Demon Mind, Human Heart
by bLoOdYtWiLiGhT
Summary: Kurama/Hiei have a teenage daughter named Yoko and are raising her in the Ningenkai. Life gets complicated when an evil demon becomes set on mating her while she is falling for her new human friend, a psychic boy named Akira! Chapters 10&11 up!
1. Prologue

Author's Note: Ok so this fanfiction idea has been with me for quite some time and is completely original. I can't stress enough that there are a few new characters since my story takes place years into the future with the exception of the prologue. They belong to me. The other characters however, do NOT belong to me sadly. The original cast of Yu Yu Hakusho belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi. I wish Hiei did belong to me… T.T

Shounen Ai couple is Kurama/ Hiei. Don't like it, don't read it. You've been warned.

Please no flames; it's been awhile. Flames **will** be **deleted**.

So, enough of my blabbering, here's the story.

Prologue:

Kurama was pacing about the room anxiously. He had been up to this for awhile now, only pausing to look at the clock and mutter under his breath about taking too long. Yusuke, Yukina, Keiko, Botan, and even Koenma himself were all sitting there in the room along with him. Yusuke was watching Kurama pace about along with an excited Keiko. Yukina was practically bouncing out of her seat every time she heard a noise from inside Genkai's temple. Koenma merely sat there, arms and legs folded, with his eyes closed while he attempted to ignore Botan's constant sighs of aggravation and her groans every time she glanced at her watch.

Yusuke jammed his eyes shut and shook his head. "Damn it Kurama, you're just making everyone more restless and me friggen dizzy!" He shouted in hopes Kurama would snap out of his trance and stop his annoying routine.

The anxious kitsune's sharp ears picked up on Yusuke's words and stopped to look at him. After considering what his friend had just said, Kurama let out a loud exasperated sigh and plopped himself down next to him. "I apologize everyone. I am just nervous is all. If only I could have gone in there with him… but Genkai was right. I wouldn't have been able to stand seeing Hiei in that sort of pain." He bowed his head only to have it snap up again as everyone heard a baby cry.

This being her cue to help, Yukina ran into the temple and shut the door so she could care for the baby while Genkai helped Hiei. (_A/N: She is AWARE of being is twin in this. It's annoying when she's oblivious. And for you who will comment, "She's his younger sister!" Technically yes she is but only by a few moments._) Everyone stood and stared at the door waiting for Genkai to give them the "ok". They heard the baby stop crying and begin to coo and sigh. There were some excited murmurs from the other side of the door and then the sound of someone coming to the door. It opened slowly this time as Yukina stepped out with a small bundle in her arms. She reached behind her and shut the rice paper door in order to give her brother back his privacy.

Yukina smiled at Kurama. "Well Kurama-san, you and oni-san have one very healthy and very beautiful baby girl… I think she's ready to meet you." Her voice was soft and gentle as she spoke, even more than usual, as to not disturb the baby further.

Kurama held out his arms as his daughter was passed to him carefully. Using his fingers, he slowly and carefully peeled the yellow blanket off of his daughter's fragile head and tugged the folds away from her face so he could see her clearly. Kurama's breath caught in his throat. She was _gorgeous_. His baby girl had fair skin even for a newborn, and had inherited his silver hair from his demon form somehow. (A/N: That's just how I see her in my head. Just adding my two cents.) She was very small, a trait he made note of to tease Hiei with later when he was healed. The infant shifted and yawned before her eyes slowly began to open. They were very large, almond-shaped, and crimson in color. Kurama smiled wide. Hiei's eyes… What a wonderful combination with her fair skin and unique silver hair. She blinked at him a few times before unconsciously licking her little pink lips and closing them again to fall asleep once more.

Genkai exited the room and everyone looked right at her, waiting to hear news about Hiei. She smiled and gave them a little nod. They all exhaled loudly with relief and they went right back to looking at the baby and fawning over her.

"She's so beautiful! And so tiny…" Botan giggled as she played with the baby's little hand.

Keiko lightly touched her cheek and smiled. "And look at those cheeks! They're so soft I can't help myself!"

Yusuke snorted and grinned. "Yeah, she may be beautiful but be careful. With Kurama and Hiei for parents she's going to be one deadly beauty as she grows up." Kurama couldn't help but smirk at that comment.

"Ahem!" Genkai cleared her throat and looked up at Kurama. "All right well Hiei's fine, just exhausted. I think you should go spend time with him now. He'll want to see his baby too. As much as he hates admitting it, he is half koorime; that child is his life now."

Kurama smiled and excused himself before entering the temple, his baby still sleeping soundly in his arms. He saw Hiei laying on a futon dressed in a black yukata and looking at the two of them with a weary expression. "She's gorgeous Hiei." He breathed as he knelt down beside the futon. "She's sleeping now but she has your eyes."

Hiei smiled sleepily and stared at his daughter. "She _is_ beautiful… I can't believe she's mine…"

"So Hiei, what shall we name our daughter?" Kurama asked thoughtfully.

"Yoko… That's a human girl's name too… I think it is fitting." Hiei looked hopefully up at his koibito.

Kurama smiled. He could never refuse his Hiei's request. "Minnamino Yoko." He said quietly. "I love it Hiei." His heart warmed as his koi closed his eyes and smiled. "You need sleep koi. I'll watch the baby and you can rest."

Hiei nodded as his breathing began to even out. "Thank you, "Daddy"." He said weakly.

Kurama chuckled. "Good night, "Mommy"."

Yoko just continued to sleep on contentedly in her father's arms.

A/N: All right, I know it's sort of long but I think it set up the fact that they have a daughter very nicely before I skip a number of years. I don't care if some of you think that her name is unoriginal. That's how it came to me and that's how it's staying. I realize Shiori, Kurama's mother was not in here and that is because of the company of everyone there. It will be made clear later on that she is aware of the fact that they are all demons and she loves her son, Hiei, and her grand daughter Yoko very much regardless.

So that's it. The first chapter will be up soon! Either tonight or tomorrow actually…


	2. Chapter One: Human Yoko

A/N: I do have an announcement to make: I do not know if I will be able to update everyday, I will try to believe me. But classes and work like to take up my time so be patient if this takes some time. This story is NOT short.

Also, Hiei will be referred to as Mom by Yoko and Kurama by Papa. That's just how it sounds in my head.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original characters or story lines mentioned from Yu Yu Hakusho. However, Yoko (the daughter), Akira, and villains introduced later on **do** **belong to me.**

"" talking

''thinking

Chapter 1

Human Yoko

Beep, beep, beep…

A low groan of displeasure sounded from under a thick off-white comforter. The annoying beeping from the digital alarm clock continued for a few moments until a pale hand lazily found the OFF button on the side. Said hand dropped lifelessly to hang over the side of the bed. The top of the comforter began to slowly move down as Minnamino Yoko groggily sought the outside world to gaze at her clock. After her eyes were able to focus on the red numbers in front of her, she let out a long sigh. Yoko was not a morning person; definitely a personality trait she inherited from her "mother", Hiei.

Yet to be fair, Yoko's life was far from easy. In her human life, Yoko attended private school every day and was class representative with top grades. She played the part of being shy, quiet, and very well-mannered. In her demon life, Yoko was constantly training to become as strong as can be and doing little jobs for the Reikai Tentei since she wasn't experienced enough to join the team on certain missions. She was able to be herself, an opinionated girl who almost always had something to say and didn't really care if others (besides her parents) liked what she had said or not. Either way, she really did show a lot more compassion than other demons, thanks to her being brought up in the human world. Yet she was also an extremely fierce and cunning fighter. Yoko was brought up this way because Kurama did not want to separate from his mother and Hiei was technically still on probation.

Yoko let out another anguished sigh as she heard her father call for her. She sat up and practically dropped out of the bed. The teenage demon went to the bathroom and showered. After returning to her room she dressed in her school uniform which consisted of a white button up shirt underneath a navy blue jacket and a red tie. Her knee socks were also red and downstairs lay her classic black buckle school girl shoes. After dressing and adding a bit of lip gloss to her pale pink lips Yoko went downstairs to eat breakfast.

Kurama smiled while Hiei tried to do the same but yawned instead. "So Yoko, do you have a class meeting today or are you coming home straight away?"

Yoko shook her head and sat down picking up her chopsticks and bowl of white rice. "No, but I think I'm going to do my homework in the school yard afterwards. It's really warm today." She proceeded to eat her rice and began to drink some miso soup.

"I see, well you wouldn't be delaying training with me today would you?" Kurama raised an eyebrow as he spoke.

"No, Papa."

"Good, because we're still training after you get home today. You really need to work on focusing when it comes to multiple attacks." Kurama gave her an awkward look, Yoko took it as a look that said "You just don't pay attention."

She sighed and cleaned up her spot. "I'm going to school now." She kissed her parents each on the cheek and went to the door.

Hiei followed her and paused in the doorway while she slid on her shoes. "You know, he's not disappointed in you or anything. He's just worried that if we can't be with you and something happens that you may get hurt. We both understand it's hard for you but…"

"I know Mom. Don't worry about it. Besides, if someone else hears _you_ being all sympathetic they'll think you've lost your mind. Ja ne!" Yoko turned and ran through the door before her mom could freak her out anymore. She must look tired or something; all of her efforts would have to be noticeably taking a toll on her for Hiei to act like that.

School was pretty boring for Yoko as usual. She'd already studied the material covered in all of her classes for the day so her mind was free to wander. After the day was over, she sat under a tree behind the school in the school gardens. She proceeded to read the assigned reading for literature class with little interest. Yoko's eyes wandered off of the page to a group of girls passing by. They were giggling and speaking very fast. One complained that homework was going to ruin her love life. Yoko shut her literature book and stared at her hand.

'Why can't my life be that easy? Where homework is the most difficult and trying part of my day; I could live with that. But do I want to be human? No, but then only being demon is impossible for me, if I want to stay here. I do wish that I didn't have to choose…' Yoko was lost deep in thought for awhile. She only snapped out of it when she felt a demonic aura nearby.

Yoko's eyes narrowed as she stood walking towards where the aura was coming from. She stopped at the edge of the woods that were behind the track field. The aura was not too strong; she could take it down quickly. Following the aura Yoko found the demon. She smirked and dropped her bag, walking towards him. He was large, but far weaker than her; a lowly demon who would only survive by eating humans. Her feet stopped. This demon was holding a human boy from her school by his neck. Yoko growled menacingly and the demon backed up.

"You lowly, disgusting, parasite! Even you are well aware of the seriousness of harming a human." She could see he boy was unconscious but breathing. "You're only lucky that you haven't killed him yet… Well, maybe not so lucky."

To the demon, Yoko seemed to completely disappear in a flash. In reality she moved inexplicably fast and shoved her clawed hand through his chest and heart. The demon gasped and threw the human boy away from him as Yoko drew her claws straight down through his vitals, killing him as blood shot out from his fatal wound. Her arm was soaked in blood and it dripped off of her claws. "Pathetic. That's really all it took? Hn, amazing you could _catch_ a human."

The human boy's blue eyes slowly began to open. They widened in shock and confusion as he saw his class representative Minnamino Yoko standing over slain demon with its blood dripping from claws he had never noticed before. Yoko looked over at him and her face showed panic. Apparently, he was not supposed to see her like that. He sat up and looked at the demon instead. This boy had short blonde hair with bangs and was amazingly paler than Yoko was, for the moment any way.

"Minnamino-san did you… _You _killed the demon with your _bare hands_?!" He yelled. It was evident that the boy was too shocked to panic. He was trying to make sense of the current situation in his head. 'How could she… Minnamino-san is so quiet and _never_ displays a violent nature! So how… Only a _demon _could; maybe she is a -'

The boy's thoughts were cut off as he felt a strong demon aura emitting from his classmate. He shrank back a bit, frightened.

Yoko heaved a great sigh and regained her composure. She felt a strange energy coming from the human in front of her, though it was probably nothing. Looking him straight in the eye she said, "You, what is your name?"

"A-Akira." He stuttered.

"Akira what?" She snapped. This was no good. He was NOT supposed to wake up and see her.

Akira finally began to pull himself together but kept his guard up. "I'm just Akira. No last name to speak of, Minnamino-san." His gaze dropped for a moment only to snap back in Yoko's direction as she made her way towards him. "I swear, I won't breathe a word about this to anyone! I owe you for saving me. So, I'll do whatever you want! Just, don't do anything…" Akira looked at his feet. He felt pathetic.

Yoko blinked a few times, her eyes wide. A moment later her face relaxed and she shook her head. "The thing is, you weren't supposed to see me. I won't do anything, but I can't guarantee there isn't someone else who may do something. They won't hurt you; of that much I am sure. I'll need you to come with me Akira." She held out her clean pale hand.

Akira stared at the offered hand for a moment before accepting it and allowing her to pull him right up off of the ground. They rushed over to a lake by the school and Yoko washed her arm so as not to attract any unnecessary attention. Afterwards they began to walk to her house. Akira stayed by her side, trudging along. His life was already so difficult, yet of course it only had to become more complicated. He looked at Yoko, trying to figure out what she was thinking. She must've noticed his stare because she turned her head to look right back in his eyes. For a moment it seemed as though they were trying to evaluate the other's expression and figure out what was going on in the other's mind. Yoko could see in his paled face and eyes that the human was nervous. She attempted to give a little half smile so he could calm down. Besides his face, she also heard his heart banging rapidly against his chest. Not that he could be blamed, most humans would be scared or nervous right then.

Yoko looked ahead. "You know, it'll be all right. The worst they may do is erase your memory of me and that demon. Other than that, it can't get much worse."

"Minnamino-san…" Akira began.

"Yoko please, Akira-kun." She corrected him.

He blinked. "Um, all right. Yoko-san, are you a demon? You never answered me. I mean, you have to be right?"

Said demon took a quick glance at him out of the corner of her eye. "Yes I am a demon. But I am not against humans, there's a reason I saved you."

He nodded. "I figured that. What kind are you?" Akira was getting interested now, if not a little excited. (A/N: Not in _that_ way you perverts. Almost like a, "Oh my god! A real demon who protects humans; that is so cool!")

Odd enough, she tensed a little for a moment before answering. "I'm a mix. Half kitsune (A/N: Fox demon.), a quarter fire demon, and a quarter koorime." She mumbled the last one with distaste.

"I take it you don't like to have the last one in you." Akira said.

Yoko gritted her teeth. "No, I don't. I hate their kind."

He hesitated for a moment. "What is a koorime?"

"Ice demon; it's literally translated as ice maiden though."

"Are they dangerous? Or evil? Cruel?" Akira was trying to make sense of it all.

She gave him a look that stated this was the last thing about koorimes that she would answer today. "They aren't too dangerous no, but they can be very cunning. How evil they are depends on the individual demon herself like all other demons and humans. When it comes to cruelty… Let's just say that the word doesn't do it justice. They don't accept anything that is different and anyone who doesn't follow the rest is basically punished. There's only one I like, and that is my aunt."

Akira felt bad for bringing up such a sore spot. He didn't think it was so bad. "I'm sorry. I didn't think it was like that. I won't mention it again today."

"Not today, but are you planning on mentioning that vile subject in the future?" Yoko asked.

"If I don't have my memories erased and I am allowed to be friends with you then I'll be honest. Most likely." He grinned a little when he heard her groan.

They walked for a few more minutes before Yoko turned and began her way down a brick walkway towards a very normal looking house with an enormous garden. "This is my house. We'll need to see my parents first, specifically Papa. Just follow my lead and you'll be all right. But try not to stutter when they ask you a question; Mom finds that ridiculously annoying. Oh and by the way," Yoko placed her hand on the doorknob and turned to him with a smirk on her face. "My parents are both male demons."

A/N: There's the first chapter. I decided to leave it there because I figured it was an interesting line to end with. Just imagine Akira's _face_! Ha! I love it. So, the second chapter should be up within a day or two. Please review! I love them. Thank you all!


	3. Chapter Two: Demon Family

A/N:

I AM SO SORRY! I went upload it on Friday (as I promised) on one of the computers in the library and then for some reason… the file was _deleted_! I was devastated! So I had to rewrite this whole chapter from memory and repost it today. I am apologizing because I don't want to be known for empty promises! Oh God, I was like "Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Yes, I was mean. I like cliffhangers. But, I'm not _that_ mean so there won't be too many. This chapter should be longer than the others. They'll probably get longer as time goes on since there will be more to write.

I am also NOT restating my disclaimer or warnings. You know them, they are in the prologue and chapter one. Just a future reference.

""Speaking

'' Thinking

Chapter 2

Demon Family

It was impossible to not laugh at the face Akira was making. Yoko instantly burst into a fit of giggles while he stood in silence looking as thought he had been hit over the head with a sledgehammer. His face was contorted in utter confusion and shock.

"And that is possible, how?!" Was all he could manage.

Yoko took a deep breath and smiled at him. "Demons don't always work _quite_ the way humans do you know."

The poor human boy didn't have much time to recover as the door opened swiftly much to their surprise. Kurama stood in the doorway. He glanced over at Akira and gave Yoko a long questioning look. Yoko's smile disappeared and she bowed her head a little, like a child who knew that they were in big trouble any minute. Kurama stepped in and let Yoko pass by him. She motioned for Akira to follow and he did so instantly.

"Yoko, you brought home a friend to study with?" Kurama asked. When Yoko shook her head Kurama understood. "What happened?"

'Great.' Yoko thought. 'He practically _knows_ what happened since he went straight to the point.' She set her book bag down and kicked off her shoes. "Well, Papa, he saw me… It's as simple as that. I'm not going to beat around the bush. He, Akira, was unconscious when I slew the demon preying on him. But he awoke before I could leave him and wash up. He put two and two together and figured it out. I'm sorry."

Kurama gave her an exasperated look. "Just like your mother…" he said with a small smile. "You're so impulsive that you don't consider being seen."

"I couldn't let him die!" Yoko raised her voice a bit. "I fight to save human life too you know! I can't, I just can't watch that happen! Especially since I grew up in the human world. You have no idea how hard it would be if I made myself walk away…"

Another voice sounded from the next room. Akira noticed how quiet and low it was. "What's the problem Kurama? You two are making a lot of noise."

Kurama turned slightly towards the doorway. "Hiei, you better come in here. We have a serious problem."

"What could be so serious?"

"How about a human boy found out the truth about Yoko and now we have to figure this out?" Kurama said a bit harshly.

A rumble was heard and as quick as lightning Hiei joined them. He was wearing his black tank and black pants. Hiei walked right over to Yoko and gave Akira a look over. He switched his gaze to Yoko with one eyebrow raised. "And everyone always said _I_ would be the one to give us away…"

Yoko looked down at her feet. "I know; I messed up. But… I couldn't let the demon kill him!" She looked straight at her parents. "You know that I have more sympathy for humans than a normal demon would! I can't help myself… seeing one just be hurt for no reason, I can't just stand by and watch!"

Kurama's expression softened. "Yoko… we are not angry with you. We are just shocked. You've always been so careful."

"It's my fault."

Everyone turned to look at Akira with a mixture of shock and confusion.

"I-I sensed the demon and ran out to meet him… If I hadn't of done such a reckless thing then I wouldn't have seen Minnamino-san. She wouldn't be in this mess." His expression was pained.

Yoko's face contorted in confusion and concern. "Akira-kun… if you could sense a demon then why would you run _to_ it?" She felt even more concerned when he gave her a beaten and anxious look. "Could it be you… wanted it to kill you?"

Akira shifted uncomfortably under the demon family's gaze. "That's not important. What is important is that I am made to forget everything right? You said they might erase my memory. That'll be easier for you right?"

Yoko blinked a few times. "You want your memory erased? I've never heard that before."

Kurama interrupted. "Honestly, we can not do so without informing Koenma first. He is the one who will decide whether or not your classmate will lose his memory. Yet before we take care of that… I am curious as to how he was able to sense a demon in the first place. That is why there is a possibility that Koenma may _not_ have memory erased."

The kitsune was looking at Akira as though he was studying him; trying to figure him out. The boy was definitely a human; of that much he was sure. For such a young teen to have the ability to sense a demon was more than just rare. It was something he _had_ to be born with. While Kurama was lost in deep thought, Hiei was busy looking utterly annoyed. A human had found out his daughter's secret. How weak a human could be. If he proves to not have the ability to keep his mouth shut but has his memory intact, he could spread the news everywhere and ruin everything his daughter struggled for. Hiei did not like this one bit and was silently hoping the boy's memory would be erased as soon as they explained it all to the little brat. Hiei groaned at the thought of having to deal with Koenma and rolled his eyes. Kurama chuckled lightly.

"Hiei it won't be so bad."

"For you! I just find him irritating all together." Hiei bellowed.

Kurama smiled. "That, my little fire demon, is only true when he says something that you disagree with. Other than that you ignore him."

Hiei grumbled and replied, "He _always_ says something I disagree with! Like my probation that I am _still on_! Or the _stupid_ little errands he has me run for him when he is perfectly capable of doing it himself. Even how he wants to handle those _stupid_ cases he forces us to go on with that _stupid_ spirit detective-"

"Hiei stop that. You like Yusuke. And I think you made your point that everything involving Koenma is, quote unquote, _stupid_." Kurama always found Hiei's outbursts amusing. His mate was not always vocal and on most occasions he said almost nothing. But once Hiei started on something he was difficult to stop.

Yoko cleared her throat. "I'm going to bring Akira-kun to the bathroom so he can change out of his school uniform and I'll do the same in my room. Be back in a few!" She grabbed his hand and bolted up the stairs.

Akira stumbled behind her and almost fell over when she came to a stop. "You are very fast."

"I inherited my speed from my mother, but I do run quite a lot to keep myself fast. Here." Yoko opened a white door which revealed a bathroom behind it. "Get changed so you are more comfortable. I'll be right across the hall in my room doing the same. When you are done, knock."

Akira nodded in understanding and proceeded into the bathroom. The floor was black of a shiny black tiling and the walls were a crimson red. There was a vase filled with white roses on the windowsill which was painted black. The shower had a glass door while the large tub for soaking matched the floor. Akira was amazed at how clean and beautiful it was and realized that the rest of the house was probably just as beautiful. He was probably too nervous to notice. He took off his school uniform and took out his after school clothes from his bag. He switched into a pair of boot cut jeans, a white shirt, and a jean jacket. After he was done, Akira walked over to the door Yoko said was hers and knocked. When he heard no response he knocked again and pressed his ear to the door to listen. In the next moment he was in pain thanks to Yoko opening the door while he had his ear against it. The white door hit his head and pushed him to the floor.

"Oh! Are you all right?!" Yoko knelt beside him and looked at his head.

"Haha… uh… Yes I'm ok! I just… yeah. Ow." Akira held his head and rubbed where he had been hit.

Yoko looked at him disbelievingly. "You're _sure_ you're ok? You are speaking oddly."

Akira shook his head slightly and stood up. "Yes, sorry. I was surprised so I guess I got a little disoriented."

"Oh." Yoko stood and looked up at him. Akira finally noticed what she was wearing. Yoko was clad in a purple halter top with a black skirt that only went to the middle of her thigh. She was also sporting a pair of leggings that were also black and some armbands. She raised an eyebrow at his stare. "Something wrong?"

The human teen shook his head. "Oh no, no! Sorry I suppose I was just shocked that you wear outfits like that."

"Well, I do have to train with my parents later tonight and I figured that I may as well wear something I wouldn't have to change out of again."

"So, that's like a training outfit or a battle outfit?"

"It serves as such. Although I do also wear this around just to wear it like a normal outfit too."

The two made their way downstairs (Akira behind Yoko) and went over to her parents. Hiei grunted and Kurama sighed. Kurama looked at the duo and smiled. "Do not worry, everything will be fine. Nothing bad will happen if your memory is to be erased. But I do believe it may not be."

The two teens looked startled. "Why is that, Papa?" Yoko asked eagerly.

Hiei answered instead. "Because first of all, he is a human who was born with the ability to sense demons. Second, there is a separate type of energy emitting from him that we can't explain but the toddler probably can. Third, we all want to know what the hell would possess a human boy his age to go looking for a demon."

Akira gulped. "Um, you know… I think it's better to have my memory erased. Can't we just do it?"

Hiei shook his head. "Sadly, no. We'd never hear the end of it if we were to ignore your abilities and I honestly do _not_ have the patience for that."

They made their way out the door and Yoko grabbed his arm. "You must realize we are going to the Reikai, the Spirit World. Stay with me and don't be alarmed. There will be creatures you have never seen before in the offices but they are not capable of harming you. And there is one other very important thing."

"What is that?" Akira blinked as the young demon girl smirked and led him out onto the walkway.

"Koenma-sama takes the form of a toddler in Spirit World."

Akira could just about stifle the laughter that threatened its way out.


	4. Chapter Three: The Reikai

A/N: Hi all. I felt so bad about the stupidity of having to post the second chapter waaaaaaaay later than I promised that I decided to get right into writing the third. Also, I realized I didn't add an ending author's note. Sorry. Just please read and review and tell your friends about the story! I love reviews and constructive criticism.

// I am saying NOW that I just threw them into the Reikai. How they travel from world to world is never really explained except for Botan's means of transportation. Her paddle…. Broomstick… thing//

So, without further ado, I give you chapter three!

"" Speaking.

''Thinking.

Check the bottom of the page.

Chapter 3

The Spirit World (a.k.a. The Reikai)

It was a little while before they arrived. Yoko kept Akira beside her while the group began their way through the offices of the Reikai. He remembered to not react negatively when he saw the ogres in the office very easily. The hard part was actually trying not to laugh as he saw a couple of them fumbling around with some files and an enormous stack of books that were all eventually dropped with a loud crash. He placed his hand over his mouth and looked at Yoko. She paused and called for her parents to wait a moment. To Akira's astonishment, Yoko ran over to the ogres sighing and shaking her head. He heard her giggle a little bit as she collected the giant pile of books in her arms and placed them on a desk for the ogres with ease. The stack had to have been about five times her size and Yoko couldn't even meet the normal height for a Japanese 16 year old human girl. They thanked her sheepishly and waved as she turned to run off.

Yoko met back up with the rest of the group without a word, still shaking her head. Akira decided not to comment since her parents didn't seem to be bothered. 'How odd…' He thought. 'I was always under the impression that demons were basically monsters. But that's so far from describing Yoko it isn't even funny! She even helps others just to do so.'

Hiei smirked and looked at his daughter. "Are you sure you're my kid? I mean, helping those oafs? That's a waste of time."

"They can't help that they're total idiots. Might as well help them. They can't even walk without falling everywhere." Yoko replied.

A large bead of sweat appeared on the side of Akira's head. 'Ok, maybe I was wrong. Or she's just covering for herself… Why am I even thinking about this?' Akira shook his head as if to clear his mind.

The group arrived at a pair of very large red doors and paused. The ogres beside them opened the doors to allow them inside. "Wait." Yoko said to her parents. "You don't need to speak for me. I can handle talking to Koenma, you know that. So I'll go first."

"Yoko." Kurama's hand shot out and he lightly touched her shoulder. "This is not like every other time we are here. You'll be in trouble this time. It's not like you are just going to have a pleasant conversation."

She took a deep breath and gave him a very Hiei-like smirk. "Oh don't worry Papa. I can take care of myself. You know full well that I'll have no problem."

Kurama gave her a defeated look. Hiei chuckled a bit and looked proud of her. There was no reason to be afraid. The worst that could happen would be if she was put on is probation… and Yoko loved her simple life as a human as well as her demon life. She wouldn't mind at all. Yoko led the way into the office, Akira clinging to her side. Koenma looked up from the pile of papers he was stamping and opened his mouth to greet them. Upon seeing the strange human boy with Yoko his mouth closed and he set his eyes on the demon girl before him.

"Kurama, Hiei, Yoko… To what do I owe the pleasure?" He said in a serious tone.

Poor Akira was in shock. Yoko _had_ indeed told him the truth. This "Koenma" person looked just like a toddler! It was odd to think that this was the person that they needed to see about such an emergency. Akira shivered suddenly. He felt immensely strong vibes from where he was. He hadn't been paying attention to it all, but the place was filled with a strange sort of energy. It was different from that of a demon… But he couldn't quite place it. He focused on the small man in front of them and realized that he didn't seem human at all, nor demon. Yet the strange new energy was emitting from him so strongly that Akira's senses were beginning to become overwhelmed. He shook his head a few times and closed his eyes as he took a few deep breaths. Koenma's eyes darted over to the human in front of him and widened.

"Young man, you can sense the spiritual energy of this place can't you?" Koenma asked sternly.

"Is that what that is? Jeez, demonic energy _and_ spiritual energy… My head's gonna explode." Akira responded weakly.

Yoko gave him a concerned look and held onto his arm to keep him steady. "Koenma-sama, I know you can probably guess the situation, but please let me explain." After receiving a nod from him, she decided to proceed. "You see, I was staying late after school to study outside. Not too long after I finished, a demon aura appeared very close to the school. So before this demon could harm any of the human students I decided to take care of him. When I did so, Akira here, was about to be murdered while unconscious. I took out the demon and before I could leave, Akira awoke and saw me. He's a classmate of mine so I couldn't very well walk away and not have to deal with this later, so here we are."

Koenma sighed exasperatedly. "Yoko, please be more careful from now on. But I understand that it wasn't really under your control this time and you took care of it accordingly so, no harm done I suppose. Now, Akira was it?"

Akira looked at him. "Yes sir. Just Akira."

"You can sense demon energy as well?" The young boy nodded in response. "Hm, well that is very rare to be born with you know. First off, why would you be there if you could sense the demons presence?"

Again with that question. Akira looked down at his feet as he felt his stomach fill with butterflies. "I – I suppose I wanted the demon to kill me. I wasn't thinking very clearly…"

Yoko looked at his face as he moved away from her slightly. "Akira-kun, why would you want such a thing?"

"Because," he began. "I hate it. I have nothing… no home, no family, not a friend in the world, NOTHING! I'm just sick of everyone around me being afraid of me, or hating me, or thinking I'm a freak." Akira didn't know why he was opening up to these people. He didn't even know them! Then again, there didn't seem to be any way out of answering the question so he might as well.

Koenma cleared his throat. "And why, do you know why they treat you like this?" He had a hint of knowing in his voice which made Yoko look at him curiously. "Are you aware of the different energy you harness; of why humans fear you?"

"Because, I am able to do things no one else can do." Akira bowed his head.

Kurama stepped forward. "We've dealt with your kind before, just not of this magnitude… So we won't be afraid you understand."

"You won't be afraid… you should be. I can't control it; that is my biggest problem. Because I have no control! PEOPLE GET HURT." His fists clenched tightly at his side. "I hate it… hate it… HATE IT!" As he yelled the last two words some lights shattered, objects fell, and everyone felt an enormous surge of psychic energy. Akira was breathing heavily and holding the side of his head once the commotion he caused was over.

"Telekinesis…" muttered Koenma. "I'm sure you could harness your psychic energy to fight with as well, what else can you do? You may be useful to us, if you are willing."

Akira looked at him with wide eyes. "Well, I can see and sense auras as you know, as you mentioned I have telekinesis, every so often I'll have a spontaneous vision telling me if something bad will happen too."

"I also think," Koenma said. "That you are also more in tune with your ki. You could probably use it to defend yourself and others… You would be a very valuable addition to the team."

Hiei couldn't take it anymore. "You can _not_ be serious! You want some strange human who knows _nothing_ of the Reikai or the Makai to fight with us?! This is ridiculous! He _knows_ Yoko's secret! He could tell anyone!"

Koenma sighed heavily. "I understand where you're coming from Hiei, but there's no harm in trying. Like Yoko, he is not experienced enough. He would need to learn to control his abilities before becoming a real asset to us. So, Akira should live with you all. That way he can learn to fight and defend himself from Yoko. _And_," He added in order to appease Hiei's temper. "You will be able to keep an eye on him so he doesn't share her secret."

Hiei glared and growled audibly. Kurama placed a hand on his koi's shoulder to try and comfort him somewhat. Hiei pulled away from him and stormed out of the office saying something about a 'foolish mistake'. Yoko looked after him and felt her stomach churn. This was _not_ going to be an easy task. Yet she did agree with Koenma when it came to the fact that Akira was valuable. On the other hand, he could ruin everything and prove to be a problem.

After clearing his throat Akira spoke. "I rather my memories, all of my memories, be erased… I don't belong anywhere, not with them either. Please, if I could have my powers taken away I would. But that doesn't seem possible; so if you could just-"

The tiny lord cut him off. "Out of the question! Furthermore you will start seeing Master Genkai on a regular basis since she has dealt with psychics before; though not of your caliber. I'm sorry, but I have a gut feeling that you can be an enormous help in the future. Yoko."

"Yes?" She asked.

"Akira is your partner now. You will be responsible for his safety as well as for teaching him to defend himself physically. Now, I am _very_ busy and extremely behind. I'll speak to you about this more in the future." Koenma actually sounded like he could cry during that last statement.

Yoko blinked a few times. "Fine; bye." She grabbed Akira by his jacket sleeve and dragged him towards her father. They made their way out and Yoko stopped to look at him. "Papa, what _is_ he thinking? I mean, Mom's never going to cooperate. And now we have a suicidal psychic, no offense Akira-kun, in our house!"

There was a long pause. Akira felt as though he could just break down. His suicide attempt was foiled and now he would have to be a stranger in a house of demons who he didn't know. He didn't know how the other two felt about him, but it was painfully apparent that Hiei hated the fact that the boy existed. The poor human felt sick to his stomach once again. Everyone would hate him again; everyone would treat him like a freak or hurt him again; everyone would abandon him once more… The cycle would just repeat itself over and over until there was nothing left. 'Nothing…' He thought to himself. 'I am _nothing_.'

Kurama finally answered his daughter thought his voice sounded very far away to Akira at the moment. "It will be difficult but it doesn't seem that we have any other choice. Also, Hiei will get over it; just give him some time. As for Akira, I believe you may be able to help him get over all of the negativity and despair he is experiencing. It seems as though he needs someone who will accept him for what he is and not be afraid. Isn't that right, Akira?"

Akira heard his name but didn't respond. He _knew_ that what Kurama said about him was true. Every word of it. But the day had been so overwhelming that Akira no longer had the strength to really respond or comprehend his surroundings. He just stood there, dead to the world and lost in thought. He was completely unaware that Yoko could not seem to take her eyes off of him as they headed back to the human world.

'He's in so much pain. Then again, from what we got out of him I can't really say I blame him. He has nothing in life.' Yoko was completely focused on Akira. 'I really can't complain; he will make an interesting fighting partner.'

Once the three of them arrived home Kurama went to speak with Hiei. Yoko led Akira up the stairs and to the bedroom next to hers.

"This is the guest room. We'll have it fixed up so it suits you better soon I'm sure." She took his bag and placed it beside the bed. "Where are the rest of your belongings? We can get them tomorrow."

Akira pointed at the bag. "That's really all I have. I've been on my own for awhile so I don't have many things anymore. Foster families tend to keep many things they buy."

Yoko smiled maliciously. "That's great… I can take you shopping."

'She even acts like a human… Jeez, she sounds like a shopaholic!' Akira watched on helplessly as she gave herself permission to go through his things.

"Wow, you _need_ me to take you shopping. And that is what we'll do tomorrow, since it's a Saturday. We'll go after morning classes." Yoko clicked her tongue in disapproval as she studied his few outfits. After she was finished she took a seat on the bed and gestured for him to take a seat.

Akira sat beside her, curious. "You know," she began. "If we are to be partners, I do want to be your friend. It's really not as bad as you believe it is. I promise, we won't think ill of you because you're _psychic_ even though you have more abilities than the average. Just try and relax, get yourself comfortable. And… I am here. Once you are ready you can talk to me, confide in me." He watched her eyes dance over to the clock on the bedside table. "We'll be having dinner later than usual tonight obviously, but be ready for it all right?"

"Be ready for what? It's human food, right?" Akira asked nervously. He already felt a bit more at ease with Yoko around.

The teenage demon giggled evilly. "Ha-ha! Maybe, maybe not! You'll see." She stood and gracefully left a very nervous Akira alone in his room.

…

After the extremely tense dinner consisting of normal, human, Japanese food Akira decided that Yoko was going to be messing with him for a long time.

Ki- Spiritual energy, also related to psychic energy.

In Japan, they do attend school on Saturdays, but high school classes generally end before noon and then the remainder of the day is free time.

A/N: All right so there's chapter 3. This one is like, 6 full pages in Word just so you know! I know what is in the summary hasn't really happened yet, but the story really needs to be set up first. Please be patient. In, I think, Chapter 5 the big problem mentioned in the summary will begin to take place. This will be a rather long fic, so please just bear with me! Remember, it may be a lot to read, but it's a lot more to write! )

I'm also already starting chapter 4. But here's a vote I want to conduct. Please leave your choice in a review.

Do you want to see their shopping trip in Chapter 4: Yes or No?


	5. Chapter 4: Shopping Mania & a Surprise

A/N: All right, only a few responded to my suggestion for a vote and the final decision is… drum roll

You'll see as you read. Yeah, I am mean. But you can probably guess what it is anyway. I'm just in a weird mood I suppose. Oh well. Thanks for all of the reviews by the way! The more I get, the more motivated I am to write this story as soon as possible!

Here you go.

Chapter 4: Shopping Mania and a Surprise Encounter

The next morning was nothing but a blur to Akira. Yoko grabbed them some breakfast to go and practically dragged him out of the house. Their morning classes went by fast for him, since he wasn't really paying attention. Yoko, on the other hand, couldn't stop complaining that the afternoon wasn't coming fast enough.

"Ugh, finally it's the last class for today." Yoko groaned.

Akira smiled. "Why are you so excited? I mean, you seem to have more interesting things to do other than take me shopping."

Yoko looked at him and gave him a small sad smile. "To be honest, this will be the first time I do anything like this. I've never let myself have a friend before so, I guess I'm a little over excited. The whole going out with a friend thing, being a normal teenager; I am surrounded by it every day and yet never get to experience it."

"I didn't think demons cared about such petty things."

"Normal ones don't. I was raised here, in the human world. Yet all I could do was watch them and know that I could never be like they are. Most demons are raised in the Makai, the demon world, and could really care less. But when you have to pretend to be a human for twelve hours a day soon you aren't acting anymore… What am I saying?!" Yoko exclaimed. "Don't mind me… I just, got lost for a moment that's all yeah!"

Akira blinked a few times after her outburst. "You know, that all makes a lot of sense and there's nothing wrong with it. You've been raised to be both demon and human, that can't be easy… for anyone."

The bell rang signaling the end of class and Yoko jumped from her seat. The two headed out of the school gates in silence, Akira trailing slightly behind the mute demon girl.

'Why did I open up to him like that?! I've never even told that to my parents! I've only known him for two days… Breathe Yoko.' She told herself. 'I'm getting too hyped up over this. He's going to be my partner; he needs to know my thoughts. That must be why.'

//Scene Change//

Once the duo finally arrived at the shopping mall Yoko's evil smirk reappeared on her pale face causing Akira to gulp audibly. The first place she dragged him to was a sports store where she proceeded in picking out quite a few outfits in the martial arts department.

"You're going to need durable clothing for training, and fighting once we teach you how. What colors do you like?" Yoko didn't look at him while she spoke; her eyes were completely focused on the attire in front of her.

"Um blue, black I guess. Green is ok too. Where do you get your martial arts outfits? I don't see anything like that here" Akira glanced around to reassure himself.

Yoko pulled a deep, midnight blue kung-fu style outfit with a black sash and lining down to examine it. "Not anywhere in the human world. My family dresses in Makai clothing when we fight. Papa will wear human attire more than Mom; as you can tell Mom doesn't think too highly of humans. Also, I don't think he'll give up his cloak for anything!"

"Oh I see. That makes sense." There was a pause for awhile while Yoko selected two more outfits and forced them into his hands before pushing him into a changing room stall without any notice. While dressing in the first outfit to check the fit, Akira decided to ask a question. "Does your mother, Hiei-sama, hate me?" He heard an exasperated sigh from the other side of the door.

"I wouldn't say _hate_ necessarily. Dislike, yes. He is very distrusting and it takes him a while to warm up to people. More than anything, he doesn't know for a _fact_ that you'll stay quiet about my secret so he is feeling the need to be suspicious, protective." Yoko waited for a response, only earning a quiet "oh" from the boy inside. The door opened and he emerged in his first outfit which suited him very nicely. She saw the look on his face and straightened out his collar. "Don't worry so much. Just give it some time. He'll get over himself soon enough." She shoved him back into the stall to try the other two.

Once they were finished at the athletic store, Akira began to realize what he had gotten himself into, especially when the bags and boxes started to pile up in his arms. The day began to drag on for him without an apparent end while for Yoko, they didn't have enough time. This was something normal human girls did all of the time; she wanted to enjoy herself as much as she could. For a short time, she felt normal. Yoko felt as though she blended in somewhere, as some teenage girl dragging her poor friend around the mall. It was a nice feeling. Even in the Makai, the demon world, Yoko stood out. The daughter of the "Forbidden Child" and the legendary thief Yoko Kurama always stood out. Mainly, of course, because of her mother Hiei. Their large red eyes were that of a koorime and their mixed scent was very distinct. Not many regular looking demons would have koorime blood coursing through their veins. It was impossible to blend in while in the Makai, but in the Ningenkai (human world) no one around her had such senses.

The young demon girl was dragging him along by the hem of his jean jacket when she paused. He heard a small menacing laugh and soon enough he was being shoved into a regular clothing store. Yoko began holding shirts and pants up to him to get an idea of how they'd look. Akira felt ridiculous yet he had to be astounded by her energy. She sorted through the racks of shirts like they were nothing. She was focusing on grabbing clothes with the colors Akira mentioned.

"So you like denim?" Yoko asked quickly.

"Uh-um, yes. Jeans are comfortable." Akira was glad that he was allowed a say or two.

"All right a few pairs of jeans and another denim jacket. I think you're all set here! Next, shoes." Yoko purchased everything, causing the cashier to have a disgruntled look thanks to the fact that he had to bag it all.

By mid afternoon poor Akira had two boxes of shoes, four bags of regular clothing, two more bags of martial arts attire, and a short-sword they had bought from a weapons shop. Yoko had mentioned how he was to train with that one and he'd receive a more durable sword later. He wondered why he needed one in the first place, especially since the weight it added to the pile in his arms was significant.

Yoko sighed annoyed. "Use your common sense! If something happens and you aren't able to act quick enough with your abilities won't it be a smart idea to have something you can use instantly while you gather yourself? It's just a precaution really in case you haven't trained enough and I can't protect you."

"You're really serious about this aren't you?" Akira whimpered slightly.

"Yep. What Koenma says when it comes to the team goes. Seriously, be happy I'm training you and not someone li-"

"Hiei! Now _that_ would be a deadly trainer for you kid!" An unforgettably obnoxious voice bellowed.

Yoko whipped around. "Yusuke!" She shouted. A smile crept onto her face and she ran over to hug him quickly. Yusuke gave a small 'oomph!' on impact and started to laugh. "Wow, how human of me!" Yoko pulled away and stepped back towards Akira.

Yusuke grinned. "So this is the new trainee for the team huh? Go easy on him, Yoko. Botan says Koenma wants him to survive training."

"Oh ha- ha, very funny Yusuke. This is Akira. And I'm not going to be a trainee for much longer remember!" Yoko said proudly.

"That's right! Didn't your parents say you had enough experience to start the big cases with us?" Yusuke slammed the bottom of his right fist into the palm of his left hand.

"Yes, and I can't wait. The stupid errands I've been running for Lord Tinkle Tot have become increasingly annoying. Besides, Yusuke, didn't you come to meet Akira? You don't come to the mall unless Keiko binds you and drags you." Yoko gave him a little smirk.

"Ha-ha, yeah you're right about that." Yusuke stuck his hand out to Akira as the boy straightened from putting everything down. "Name's Urameshi Yusuke! Nice to meet ya Akira!"

Akira took his hand. "Nice to meet you too um… uh?"

"Yusuke, just call me Yusuke please."

"Yusuke." Akira finished.

Yusuke laughed. "Don't worry so much kid! You're gonna be fine! Besides, I know how you feel. I used to be human too."

Akira blinked a few times. Yoko laughed and put a hand on his shoulder. "I'll tell you later don't worry! We're not going to leave you in the dark. That's no good for us either." 

Yoko looked back at Yusuke. "But you know… it is rather odd that you're here. You could've come to our house to meet him…" Yoko raised an eyebrow.

Yusuke blinked a few times and then sighed. "Damn it kid, you're too observant. All right, I'm _kind of_ here to tell you about a big case in the works. The shitty thing is, we don't know basically anything about it yet. And I'm also here to make sure you don't max out your father's credit card."

Yoko grinned. "Too late. What kind of case?"

"Don't really know. But what we do know is that there is this demon gathering a LOT of energy in the Makai. He's been killing other demons by sucking up all of their energy. We don't know how he's doing that but…"

"Psychic vampirism," interrupted Akira. "It's when a psychic uses his abilities to drain the life force from others because he believes it will fuel his energy and sustain him. Many humans who practice it call themselves 'Psychic Vampires'."

Yusuke blinked. "Ha! We knew you'd be useful! I'd better go relay that one to Koenma." He waved at them and left.

Yoko's eyes were transfixed on Akira's. He looked very uncomfortable with her gazing at him like that.

She scoffed, "And you didn't think you'd be able to fit in and help us. Idiot." Grabbing some of the bags and boxes from him she made her way out of the mall. She called her father for a ride and soon enough they were picked up. The three sat in silence until Akira made a sound as though he were in pain.

Kurama pulled over and Yoko turned to look at him. "Are you all right?" She shouted. Akira was frozen, staring off at nothing, he was completely unresponsive. "Akira-kun? Akira-kun answer me! AKIRA!" Yoko reached over to smack him but stopped when he broke out of his trance with a sharp gasp.

Kurama asked, "What happened just now Akira? Are you all right?"

Akira was breathing hard. "A-a vi-vi…vision. B- Bad one. Demon that," he took a deep breath, "that Yusuke mentioned. Here! He'll be in the… Ningenkai. Soon, he's coming soon…"

"Now Akira," Yoko pleaded. "This is extremely important. What will happen when he comes? What will he do first?"

Akira stared at Yoko with a dull melancholy look. "He will, attack you… on a mission… Soon… That's all I got. I'm sorry."

Kurama shook his head. "No apologies needed. Honestly, that's plenty of information to prepare for this."

Yoko climbed into the backseat with Akira and put an arm around his shoulders. "It's all right you know. Everything will be fine. Thank you."

Akira looked at her, stunned. Someone thanked him for his gift. Someone was comforting him instead of beating him. Someone was showing him support instead of ignoring him. _Yoko_ was being the someone he had never had. The young human boy felt his heart begin to pound. He tried to calm himself before she noticed. Yoko merely assumed that it was due to the vision and gave his shoulders a slight squeeze telling him that they'll all be fine. He thought of how she couldn't be more wrong, because _she_ was the one making him react in such a way.

'But,' thought Akira. 'Why? Why is being this close to her affecting me?' He silently cursed his heart for pounding as fast as it was.

Meanwhile, Yoko was silently thanking her heart for not pounding like a human heart does.

A/N: All right that's it. I think this chapter's a bit sketchy but whatever. It was a transition chapter. Ok, and if you are wondering about the heart thing at the end. When Yusuke find out he's demon he mentions how his "ticker isn't ticking!" Demon hearts beat differently and they can't feel it like we can so her heart wouldn't be thudding around in her chest _quite_ like Akira's would. Next chapter, which will actually be on course, is already in the drafting process and will be up very shortly. R&R please!


	6. Notice

Notice:

All right everyone I figured you deserved to know why chapter five isn't up yet since I usually don't take so long to update. For about two weeks I was writing as much as I could but suffered from writer's block. I am trying to desperately complete this chapter but it may take a little while longer…

On November 30th my father suffered a heart attack and will be undergoing open heart surgery on Tuesday December 4th. I'll be assisting him and my mother throughout this time and throughout his recuperation. I will hopefully post the next chapter within the coming week.

I appreciate your patience and promise that the next chapter will start the real fun.

bLoOdY tWiLiGhT

_** 3 This story is now dedicated to my father. Please get better soon and stay with us for a very long time. 3**_


	7. Good Notice! Updates Are Coming!

Ok this is just an update. I really want to apologize and thank you all for your patience. I know, the story was just getting good when I took a two month break. As you see in the notice prior to this one, my father suffered a major heart attack. He was in the hospital for a total of 37 days straight. We almost lost him thanks to his heart stopping but thankfully we transferred him to Boston where they implanted a defibrillator in his heart. The reason this took even longer was because he also suffered a minor stroke which temporarily affected his speech, mobility, and ability to think. Because of my mother focusing on him, I had to run the house and take care of her for awhile. I know it's weird that I am sharing something so personal online, but I wanted you all to realize the reason I have not been able to post a chapter to this story. Honestly, I really appreciate no hate mail. )

The good news is he is finally improving. The even better news is I am writing again! So pay attention to your e-mail because I plan on banging out quite a few chapters in a short period of time. I should have the next chapter up either tonight or sometime tomorrow morning and tomorrow I will devote my night to writing the chapter after that. I plan to have about three chapters out this week.

Much Love,

bLoOdYtWiLiGhT


	8. Chapter 5: Forbidden

A/N: Hello readers! Again, I greatly appreciate your patience since this has been a very trying time for me. It's been taking awhile but I've finally been able to write this.

Here's the continuation of the story. You know the basics of how to read it by now, right? )

Chapter 5

It had been a little over two months since that weird day at the mall and there was still no sign of the demon mentioned. However, that does not mean they weren't all constantly on their toes. Hiei was always out trying to gather information and Kurama was trying to figure out what this demon had planned. Yusuke was training almost constantly just waiting to be told to kick ass. (A/N: What else is new?) Yoko was almost always on edge and Akira was starting to show some real improvement when it came to his psychic abilities.

As a matter of fact, Yoko and Akira had been becoming very good friends over the past two months. Aside from training the two did everything together. Everyone (excluding Hiei of course) was happy that the two were becoming close as partners should always get to know exactly what the other is thinking. Yoko was always helping Akira out with school lately as well seeing as he didn't grasp some basic concepts over the years in order to do the complex work they were now responsible for. The two of them were inseparable in school except for in gym when the girls and boys did different activities. Rumors had already begun to spread that the two were dating. Since Yoko was a seemingly idealistic high school girl, it was a hot topic for discussion. Yet, they weren't aware of it; yet.

As Yoko and Akira were getting ready to sit down to their bento a group of girls rushed over and practically attacked Yoko all at once. They were all talking so fast saying how she _had_ to come have some girl time with them and pulling on her arms it seemed Yoko didn't have a choice. She wouldn't very well put up a fight against humans, so she gave in as the crazy gossip queens kidnapped her. Akira just stared after them trying to assess what had just transpired.

Off in another classroom Yoko was being inquired viciously.

"So, so? Come on! Are you and Akira-kun an item or what?" One girl asked excitedly.

Yoko blinked in confusion. "W-where did you get such an idea?"

Another girl interjected immediately, "You two are together all of the time! Come on, it's so obvious! Besides, we see the way you look at him Minnamino-san!"

"And in what, may I ask, way do I look at him?"

The first girl spoke again. "Like you're falling in love." They all sighed and got dreamy looks on their faces.

Yoko blushed, she couldn't help it. Her; in love with Akira? No, that's impossible. 'Silly giddy little human girls, always trying to make a romantic situation where there is no proof.' She shook her head. "No, no you've got it all wrong. I'm not falling in love with Akira. I-I don't have time for silly things like…"

A third girl jumped in. "Oh come on, now you're making excuses." She leaned in close so her deep brown eyes penetrated Yoko's crimson red ones. "So, how do you _feel_ about him? I mean, there's no way he's just a friend."

"Oh of course he's more than a friend." Everyone leaned in closer, breath hitched. "He's my best friend." They all fell over. Yoko just looked at them.

"NO! YOKO-SAN! HOW DO YOU FEEL WHEN YOU'RE WITH HIM OR THINKING ABOUT HIM?" They all yelled in unison.

She was taken aback. Yoko never had this type of problem before. "How, how do I feel? I-I care about him but I don't think I can call it love."

The second girl put her hands on her hips. "Humph, well it's obvious you aren't very in tune with your feelings. But Akira-kun is. Now HE is falling for you. Don't tell us you haven't noticed how his whole demeanor brightens when you just enter the room."

'This is crazy,' Yoko thought to herself. 'Akira-kun has a crush on me? That's impossible! But…' She actually felt her heart pound just a bit. 'Akira-kun, we did become close rather quickly but we're to be fighting partners in the Reikai Tentei! But, I am very comfortable with him… he makes me smile a lot and… No! No this is crazy; they're messing with my thoughts now! Or maybe…' Yoko felt her palms getting a tad sweaty as they clutched the edges of her pleated skirt. 'Maybe I've just never noticed because I don't pay attention to things like this. Maybe I-I have a crush on Akira-kun.'

"Well, I'm going to go have lunch with him now, Akira hates to eat alone." She jumped up and ran. But she didn't run towards the classroom Akira was waiting for her in; she ran down the hall and threw open the doors to the stairway. Yoko hadn't even run that fast and she was trying to catch her breath. She was in the middle of the stairs and holding onto the railing hunched over. 'What's wrong with me? I don't even know about the Akira before he moved in! Maybe he's not what I think… No, I know that's not true. For all he knows, his life is in my hands.' She clutched her chest. 'But I'd never hurt him… I never want to see him hurt like when I first met him.' Yoko shook her head violently and took a very long deep breath.

"I have to get this together and just go to lunch." She said to herself aloud. The confused teen put on a poker face and went to see him.

When she entered the room Akira was doing just what she thought he would be. Staring off into space with his bento still closed just waiting for Yoko. She smiled. He was always an amusing space case, practically looked brain dead.

"Yo!" She called as she sat with him. "Earth to Akira-kun!"

He jerked out of his stupor. "Oh! Hah, there you are. What was that about?"

Yoko just waved her hand and rolled her eyes. "Nothing really, they wanted to see if they could get some gossip. I'll never understand that about humans, so nosy."

Akira smiled, "Well neither will I. It's mostly girls that are like that so I _really_ don't get it."

They laughed and ate together peacefully. Yoko spent the whole time trying to push the thoughts the psycho league had given her into the back of her mind. The rest of the day went normally until school was finally done and they began to make their way home. The only problem with that was Yoko was unusually silent. This did not go unnoticed by Akira. He was sure that those girls from school said something to occupy the young demon's mind for her to be so out of character.

'But to stay on the safe side,' he thought. 'I won't ask her unless she acts any weirder. That way I won't step on a landmine.' Akira froze.

It was sudden, almost instant. The duo felt it at the exact same time. Demons, extremely powerful demons, were in the city and very close by. They whipped around towards the direction of the auras and gasped in unison as they heard humans begin to scream.

"It's at the plaza!" Yoko shouted as she took off.

Akira followed behind her somewhat since her speed was impossible to match. They ran until they reached the plaza area. The sight was not easy for Akira to take in. There were humans sprawled on the ground completely unconscious and others were trying to run away. But the attackers were nowhere in plain sight. Yoko dropped her bag and focused on finding them. Her concentration was broken soon however as several human men launched themselves on her. She punched them out and kicked them away from her.

"Damn! They're using the humans they've drained!" She said through gritted teeth.

"Drained?" Akira asked as he dodged a very large man's attempt to tackle him.

"Yes!" Yoko lined her back up with Akira's. "Their energy has been drained. This sucks, I don't want to hurt any humans."

"So is that the infamous daughter of the Forbidden Child I am seeing? Ha!" A female's voice rang out.

"Show yourself lowlife!"

A demon that appeared as a human woman with long pink hair, pointy ears, and violet eyes landed in front of Yoko. She was extremely fit and sporting a red skin-tight outfit. She gave a little chuckle. "Oh it is! This is fun."

"IT'S THEM!" Akira yelled. "She's one of the demons from my vision at the mall that day."

The demon smirked. "My name is En. What a pleasure, Ali and I get to kill the daughter of the worst abomination to ever walk the Makai or Ningenkai." As she spoke, a male demon with extremely long blue hair and a matching black outfit appeared beside her.

Yoko went into an automatic defensive stance and smirked. "Heh, you can try bitch! But do you really need help from your little boyfriend to beat me? That's pretty sad; not very promising."

En glowered. "Fine Ali," she went into attack mode. "Take care of her human friend!"

Yoko and En began to throw punches and kicks nearly at the speed of light. Akira was unable to watch for long as Ali took the order from his counterpart and attacked him. Ali managed to catch him off guard and sent him into a wall with a punch to the stomach. Akira then used his telekinesis to send Ali on a crash course into large window shattering the glass. Yoko smiled to herself.

Ali grunted as he stood up. "Sure En! Stick me with the damn telekinetic!" He went in for another attack but began to move the broken shards of glass and send them after Ali. "This is stupid, fine freak! Do you have the guts to slice these people up?" Ali forced the unconscious humans to rise and take his place.

Akira dropped the shards of glass and growled. "Cowardly bastard!" He gasped as the humans swarmed him. Akira tried to fight the large crowd as best he could without hurting them, but it was no use.

Yoko glared at Ali. "That's low, even for scum like you!"

Ali shrugged uncaringly. Yoko and En continued their fight. Ali sent a ki blast straight at Yoko. Yoko deflected the blast sending it right back at him only to find he had already vanished. Yoko went to turn around but found herself in an arm lock by Ali. She struggled to free herself but before she could be successful, En's claws had grown and stabbed her straight through her chest. En pulled them out forcefully as to make Yoko gasp in pain.

En began to laugh hysterically. Her amusement was cut short thanks her being thrown through a brick wall. Immediately following was a ki blast. Akira had pushed the humans away from him using his aura once he had seen Yoko injured. He continuously attacked En giving her almost no time to do anything other than defend herself. Ali stole a portion of Yoko's energy before she seemed to give off a pulse. He dropped her to the ground quickly. Ali was frozen, ignoring the plight of his partner while he stood as though in shock.

"Ali! WHY ARE YOU JUST STANDING THERE?" En screamed obtaining his attention.

As soon as he looked away from Yoko he knew he made a mistake. Something sliced into his side and he looked down to see a pure crystal type sword. Yoko had taken the moment to draw one, apparently from nowhere, and strike. Ali twitched and aimed a ki blast at the fallen girl's face. "Why you-!"

"HOLD IT!"

Everyone paused to look in the direction of the voice. Hiei and Yusuke were seen approaching. Hiei vanished and appeared by Ali and slashed at him with his sword. Ali took off into the air and stared at the father and daughter.

Meanwhile, Yusuke went over to where En and Akira were fighting. "Mind if I join the party?"

En growled and followed Ali into the air. "We'll be back. This isn't over; besides killing that disgusting abomination will be fun."

Hiei was infuriated. "WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

"Really, she's already a disgusting and unwanted demon, but to be a human lover too? Ha! That's no demon! She's not human either! So that only makes you worse than what your father is, you're not really anything!" En laughed evilly.

Yoko glared at the ground and held her wound. The two demons disappeared in a flash. Akira ran over to the silver haired girl. He knelt beside her and Yusuke made his way over.

Hiei held out his hand for his daughter. "We're sorry we could not be here sooner." Yoko took his hand but didn't respond. "Let's go to Genkai's, we were there and your father will be meeting us there soon."

The young girl just nodded and began to follow him. Akira picked up their schoolbags and walked alongside Yusuke.

Akira looked at the humans around them. "Um Yusuke, shouldn't we help them?"

"Not much we can do; Koenma will take care of it. He'll make it so they don't remember a thing either."

The trek to Genkai's temple was a very long and very uncomfortable one.

Upon arriving at Genkai's, the old master and Kurama began to inspect the duo's wounds. Kurama began to bandage his daughter in another room since it included removing her shirt.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be there, I have to keep up our human appearances and be at work." He said solemnly.

"We were practically ambushed anyway, not that it lasted long. Everything was pretty quick." Yoko stated quietly.

"So, what happened to you other than the fight? Something isn't right with you today."

"Not much." She looked away.

Kurama could feel the anger emanating off of his daughter but decided to ignore it. If she was as much like her mother as Kurama knew her to be, she was hurting and anger was the way she chose to deal with it.

In the other room Akira's back was being treated for cuts by Yukina. "Miss Yukina?"

"Yes Akira-kun?"

"Why did they call Yoko an abomination? Not really a demon? I don't get it."

Yukina paused and sighed. "I'm sure she's told you how she and her mother despise the koorime, except for me of course."

"Yeah, because they banished Hiei and all of that right?"

"Yes that's the gist of it. But beside that the koorime are an all female race, my brother was the only male born into our tribe. This gave him the label "forbidden" since it was not supposed to happen. And for the "Forbidden Child" to have a daughter of his own mixed with yet _another_ type of demon was just blowing them and other demons away. The Makai hasn't really learned to except mixes in race yet, just as humans struggle with the same problem." Yukina placed the last bandage. "You can get up now."

Akira sat up and pulled his shirt on over his head. "But that's… so meaningless. So what if Hiei's different! If he was actually "forbidden", he wouldn't have been born. I don't agree with any of that."

This statement seemed to catch Hiei's interest as he looked over from the windowsill he sat on. Akira continued. "I know what it's like to be out casted and rejected. To be hated and made to feel different. Ever since I can remember it's been like that and probably before that too. In the end it's all based on people's ignorance. Stupid enough, it works and can make us feel like we're the ones who are wrong, but how is that fair. Yoko shouldn't be labeled because she's mixed! She's not like any other demon in any world and that's why she's better."

Everyone blinked at him. Yukina giggled. "Seems like you think rather highly of our little Yoko. How cute."

Akira blushed slightly. "Ye-yeah well, she's my best friend so um… yeah. Hey is she ready yet?"

Kurama opened the door. "Yes."

Yoko entered the room only to walk right outside and jump onto the roof.

Akira went to follow her but Kurama put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. They all looked on as Hiei followed his daughter onto the roof to console her.

"This is between mother and daughter now." Kurama said.

Hiei waited awhile before actually speaking. He just watched her.

'I can't believe I messed up that fight! I could have had them! Stupid me for not listening to Papa. He was right; I _do_ have a concentration issue. Damn them. And that bitch En didn't have to remind me of what I already know!' She thought to herself.

"So can you tell me what's on your mind or do I have to read it using the Jagan?"

Yoko looked over. "Mom, I didn't see you there."

Hiei sat beside her, "I snuck up behind you. So, what is going through your head?"

Yoko's expression became somber. "I'm just disappointed in myself. I should've done better; I _know _I could have had the upper hand!"

"You were unprepared. It does happen to people you know."

"But it can't happen if I want to be a real part of the Reikai Tentei!"

Hiei took her chin and made her look in his eyes. "That's not _all_ that bothered you. What about what they said?"

Yoko looked down. "Of course that bothered me, but it's nothing I didn't know…"

"None of it is true Yoko."

Silence claimed her again. She just stared at her hand playing with a tile on the roof.

Hiei sighed. "As much as I hate to say it just ask your human friend, Akira." Yoko looked at him. "You should've heard what he was saying after he asked about what they were saying. He's got a good idea of how to explain that they were wrong. Besides, you've heard it from your Papa and I a thousand times and it still hasn't sunk in. Maybe hearing it from someone else will help."

Yoko leaned on Hiei's shoulder. "Arigatou, Momma."

"We're not done yet, now tell me what happened. Out with it." Hiei demanded.

Yoko heaved a great sigh. The fight wasn't all that bothered her, but she couldn't very well tell her mother that her mind was filled with her worry for Akira.

Below them sitting off in a corner was Akira worrying just as much about Yoko.

A/N: Thank you all for your patience! The next chapter should be up within a day or two. I know the fighting was kind of rushed but there will be more extensive battles later on so I figured I could get to other stuff faster this way. Please leave some reviews and constructive criticism is ALWAYS appreciated!


	9. Chapter 6: Family

A/N: Sorry for the long wait! Everything has still been a little hectic. School, work, Dad, and a new boyfriend ( . ) are all very time consuming. Here's the chapter I promised so long ago! This time I really promise that chapter seven will _very_ soon follow this.

Chapter 6: Family

Akira shifted uncomfortably again. He was still worried about Yoko even though Hiei was on the roof with her. He felt somewhat responsible for her getting injured. He hadn't been able to really defend himself against what the other demons had thrown at him, and become nothing more than someone else for Yoko to protect. 'How useless am I?' He thought. 'I'm supposed to be her partner; a partner isn't someone you should _have_ to protect. It's someone you should have to watch your back. I couldn't even take care of _myself_ until I saw her hurt. Some member of the team I'll be.'

Akira heard a small thud and saw Hiei and Yoko standing in the doorway. She smirked at Akira playfully. "What's with that face? Don't tell me you were honestly worried? I mean come on," she held out her hand for him. "This is me after all. I'm the resilient type."

He grabbed her hand and pulled himself up. "Who's worrying?" He asked, smirking himself. "When you're just as stubborn and conceited as ever."

Kurama cleared his throat. "Well now that this is all settled we should go home. Yoko needs more rest than she is letting on."

"DO NOT!" Yoko's face was flushed a brilliant crimson with aggravation.

/Scene Change/

Once home, Hiei went over to Kurama in their room. 

"So," he began. "What do you think? They could've taken more of Yoko's energy. So why didn't they? They stopped for some reason."

Kurama took Hiei's hand in his and sat him down in his lap on the bed. "I don't know. All I can assume is something about our daughter stopped him."

Hiei sighed and shifted in Kurama's arms. He began to play with some of the silky red tresses idly. "Is it what we worried about when she was little? I mean, she is a mix of some interesting demons types. Kitsune, fire, koorime, these aren't usually mixed all together. When she was younger we always wondered. What if her energy is different than that of other demons?"

"Then she could be more powerful than we could have ever thought before. Yoko always caught on quickly when it came to training. She even surprised us when she was caught in the middle of one of our missions when she was a child. Remember?" Kurama answered.

Hiei did remember. It was hard to forget. Yoko had only been eight years old…

/Flashback/

Yusuke was blasted back into a huge boulder causing the whole things to crumble. Hiei jumped in to give him some time and began so slash at their opponents with his katana. Yoko Kurama could be seen with his rose whip slicing away demons viciously. 

Yusuke exhaled harshly. "So this is what they have for defense? Stupid bastards!" He sent the shotgun at a bunch of demons causing them to fall dead to the ground. 

Hiei just ignored him. His only daughter had been kidnapped by the demon they were after. There was no messing with Hiei at this point. He led the group towards the demon's lair viciously assaulting anyone who dared to get in his way. He stopped when he saw the villain standing next to his daughter who was being held captive in a sort of barrier. She began banging on it with a frantic look on her face. Hiei growled and wished she wasn't so close to the bastard; he wanted to use his dragon and get it over with. The demon just laughed. 

"You'll never get her! You don't seem to realize her true value do you?" He yelled.

Kurama was becoming impatient. "We know our own daughter. Now hand her over and we won't kill you slowly." His animal growl was becoming fierce.

The demon just shook his head. "She's different from us. And not just because of her disgusting blood. You just don't know how to use her yet…"

"USE! NO ONE IS GOING TO _USE_ MY DAUGHTER! NOT US, NOT YOU!" Hiei bellowed. 

The barrier glowed as it seemed to have some electrical charge run through it for a moment. Yoko was shocked and screamed in the process. She banged on the barrier wall again. "Mommy! Papa! Help me! He keeps hurting me!" Tears were beginning to fall from her eyes and form little gems.

Hiei felt his heart leap. As cold as he seemed, this was his daughter. She was everything to him. He couldn't stand to see her like that. The jaganshi let impulse take over and he attacked the demon head on. They fought and Hiei eventually suffered an excruciatingly powerful blast to the stomach. His sword had been broken and just as Kurama and Yusuke were about to jump in, they heard a scream and a loud crashing sound. Everyone stopped. They all looked over at where Yoko had been trapped. She was panting heavily and the barrier was shattered. She growled viciously and crouched.

"Let… my… mommy… GO!" She screamed with all of her might as she launched herself at the demon. 

He dropped Hiei in shock and turned to blast the little girl away. Instead, he felt a sudden intense pain in his chest. Yoko had slammed her head right into him. He lost his balance for a second and Yoko growled again and shoved her clawed little hand into his abdomen. Yoko Kurama rushed over and used his whip to decapitate the demon while they had the chance. Time stopped… Everything stayed silent. The three demons stared at the little silver haired beauty whom had just been instantly powerful. She panted until she caught her breath and then her eyes rolled back as Yoko fainted from exhaustion. Hiei caught her and picked her up.

"What _was_ that?" Yusuke said. "Did you _feel_ that? Damn!"

Hiei and Kurama just looked at each other and at their daughter.

/End Flashback/

Kurama nuzzled Hiei. He kissed the smaller demon on the neck to bring him back to the present day. Hiei snapped out of his memory and smiled at Kurama. He leaned up and gave Kurama a real kiss in response. Kurama pushed Hiei onto his back.

"I know how to distract you… My little flame…" Kurama said huskily.

Hiei smirked and whispered, "Then distract me, Kitsune."

/Scene Change/

Yoko sighed annoyed. She was currently collecting towels to take a bath. The day had been extremely stressful from start to finish. As she exited her room to go across the hall she saw Akira out of the corner of her eye. He was staring at a family photo on the wall. She noticed the solemn lonely look on his face. Yoko felt her heart twist. 

"What do you think? I think I look chubby in that one." She said lightly as she went beside him.

Akira looked at her surprised and then back at the picture. "Nah, you're plenty skinny looking. Where are you guys in that picture?"

"In the Reikai, my parents and Yusuke had just saved me that day. I had been kidnapped by some demon as a way to get to them I think. Anyway, Mom saved me and that was the day I decided I wanted to definitely become a member of the Reikai Tentei." Yoko smiled.

Akira blinked. "Hiei really loves you huh?"

"Yup! Papa too, and I love them."

Akira looked down at the wall. 

Yoko finally decided to ask. "Where's your family?"

He sighed. "They're dead. They have been for as long as I can remember. I can't remember much honestly. You see, my memories start with waking up in rubble with my parents dead."

Yoko just stared. 'What can I say to that?' 

Akira just shrugged. "That's why I was homeless. I was sick of bouncing from foster family to foster family. I don't remember my family. I don't even remember how I lost them. I woke up and there were these two adults dead and I was in pain and very tired."

"So, what do you think happened? Couldn't have been a normal situation." Yoko inquired.

"They don't know. The police said they'd never seen anything like it. Sometimes I dream about it. But I don't know if it's a memory or a dream, so I ignore it. I just wish that I knew more." Akira could feel his voice beginning to crack. "I've been trying to figure out what happened to us for years now. Why did I have to be left alone? My parents apparently didn't hate me for my abilities, they kept me! I know I had to have them then too because I've had them since I can remember as well!" He stopped. It just dawned on the poor boy that he was rapidly confessing the dark parts of his heart. Akira felt the corners of his eyes begin to burn, he felt isolated again.

Soon, warmth enveloped the young human. He gasped as Yoko threw herself into him and clasped her arms tightly around him. She had her face in his chest and clung to his torso. Akira's eyes widened in absolute shock as he stared at the girl actually trying to console him.

"I'm sorry. I know that doesn't make it better but I'm so sorry!" She picked up her head and pulled away from his slightly. Yoko stared straight into his watery eyes. "No one should ever be that alone…" She reached up and wiped his tears away from his eyes. 

Akira thought he had just lost control of his body and his thoughts. His heart ached and throbbed as he felt Yoko's soft small hands brushing away the pain. He couldn't stand it any longer. Akira took a risk and kissed Yoko on the lips. She gasped in surprise but didn't struggle. The silver haired demon felt as though the wind had been knocked out of her. She closed her eyes and opened her lips slightly. Akira took the invitation without hesitation and deepened the kiss a little. The two stayed there for a long moment, as if they were afraid to move.

"_RING!"_ The phone's annoying high pitched tone echoed through the house. The two teens pulled apart in shock. Yoko stared hard at the ground for an uncomfortable minute and realized her parents were not answering the phone. She ran over and picked up the receiver.

"Hello? Ah! Hi grandma, how are you? That's good to hear! So you got over the flu?" Akira stood still and silent as he heard Yoko on the phone. His lips tingled. He missed her warmth. He couldn't believe the effect such a small thing left on him. His heart was pounding so fast he couldn't even sense its existence any longer. Akira decided to go in his room and calm down.

Meanwhile, the teenage demon was busy speaking with her human grandmother. "Sorry, Papa isn't available. I think he and Mom are having some alone time. Things have been pretty hectic here."

"Oh!" Her grandmother said on the other line. "Is everything all right?"

"Yes grandma everything is fine. There are some demons running amok lately and we ran into them today. But we're all ok." Yoko didn't want to lie to her grandmother, but she didn't want to worry her either. Saying the basic idea but not giving any details was the best way to keep her grandmother informed but not worried.

"All right dear, I'll trust you on that. But I want all of you to come over for dinner tomorrow night since I'm feeling better finally. We have to celebrate your Papa's birthday that he had last week, even though it's not his real birthday I like to have a small dinner together." She said cheerfully.

Yoko smiled. "That's a great idea. And he considers that to be his birthday now you know that grandma. And we'll have Akira-kun this year."

Her grandmother gave a small chuckle. "That reminds me, how are things going with Akira lately?"

Yoko blushed. 'Thank goodness she can't see me through the phone.' She realized she was taking awhile to answer and snapped out of her state of embarrassment. "Great! I think Mom and Akira are beginning to understand each other a little better now! You know how Mom is; once he understands Akira he'll feel better about all of this."

Her grandmother sighed disappointed at the lack of gossip. "Well that's good. I'll see you tomorrow dear; tell your Papa that I called."

Yoko felt accomplished at avoiding a boy oriented conversation. "Of course I will. Love you goodbye."

They hung up the phone. Yoko took a deep breath and walked over to where she had left Akira. When she saw he was nowhere in sight she lazily bent over to pick up the towels she had dropped and proceeded to go to the washroom for a hot bath. She felt a bit disappointed yet understood why Akira wouldn't be standing in the hall where she left him. 'But,' she thought to herself as she undressed and turned on the water. 'If grandmother hadn't tried so hard to get some gossip he might've still been there. I wonder if what happened scared him.' Yoko became lost in thought as she lathered up with her rose scented shower gel. The teenage demon reflected on how the kiss felt and paused in her washing. She licked her lips and smiled to herself as she used the detachable showerhead to rinse off the suds. (A/N: Nothing else with the showerhead you pervs!)

/Scene Change/

The next morning was warm and sunny. The golden rays were enough to warm an entire room and wake someone from their slumber. Akira's eyes slowly began to open as he groaned. He groggily sat up while trying to let his eyes adjust to the morning light. What really woke him from his half dead state was the sound of Yoko outside his window. He took a peek through the paned glass only to see her stretching as she headed towards the woods in the backyard. Akira lifted the edge of the window and took a deep breath as it opened.

"Oy! Yoko!" He shouted, causing her head to snap towards him. "You shouldn't be going to train. You were injured yesterday!"

Yoko blinked curiously a few times. "Oh!" She exclaimed. The smile forming on her face told him she was amused. "Akira-kun don't worry, my body is not like yours. I recover faster! All I have are the markings and those should be gone by the end of the day!"

This surprised the human boy. "Are you serious? That quick of a recovery is insane!"

"Want to take a look for yourself?" Yoko said slyly as she tugged slightly on her collar.

Akira's face couldn't have felt any hotter as he blushed and intense red with embarrassment. He shook his head hard from side to side. "No, no, no, no, no! That's fine! I believe you Yoko-san!" He rushed back inside and shut the window quickly. 'Damn,' he thought. 'I can still hear her laughing!'

Akira rushed over to his closet and pulled on one of his fighting outfits quickly. He had selected one that was sleeveless and was a dark forest green. The sash to tie the top and pants were black and the boots were also black. It wasn't hard to tell Yoko was the one who dressed him. The human left his room and turned to go downstairs when he came face to face with Hiei in the hallway. He stopped abruptly with a small yelp of surprise.

"Goo- Good morning, Hiei-san!" He said. "What brings you over here?"

Hiei stared at him for a moment before deciding to actually speak. "I've decided to put some trust in you when it comes to my daughter. You've been here for awhile and kept her secret, the other day you tried to avenge her when she was wounded, you also have an opinion about the way Yoko and I are treated by the demon world that I happen to like. So don't be so jumpy around me anymore, it's becoming annoying."

Akira blinked a few times. "You're going to… trust me?"

"SOME trust I said. But in short, yes I am. Just don't screw up. Now onto a different topic; you and Yoko will be joining Kurama and my training session today in the woods behind the house. Got it? So go downstairs and eat the breakfast that we're sitting down to then get ready." Hiei turned and walked calmly down the steps. Akira followed meanwhile already feeling his stomach tie in a series of sickening knots.

Breakfast went by quickly and the quartet headed out the back and into the woods. Akira stretched with Yoko but in an odd silence. Of course, this concerned Yoko and so she decided to test the waters.

"Akira-kun; are you all right?" She said in a hushed voice.

"Yes, just nervous. I don't want to look pathetic to your parents." The boy responded shakily.

Yoko giggled. "I'M pathetic compared to my parents, especially Papa; he's very precise and extremely vicious if he wants to be." She heard Akira gulp. "But don't worry; they won't go very hard on you. You have not been fighting long enough for them to even consider training you like they train me."

Akira sighed, somewhat relieved though not very.

For the training session, first Kurama and Hiei fought each other, and then they both attacked Yoko dragging her into the fight. Akira watched with fascination as the family fought each other with immense strength and unmatchable speed. They eventually broke it off and Kurama walked over to Akira.

"Were you watching closely?" Kurama asked.

Akira nodded. "Yes. I tried to follow it as best I could."

Kurama smiled at him. "It will take some time to see all of our movements. Well, I'm not sure you'll ever see ALL of Hiei's or Yoko's. They are quite fast, I have to strain my eyes to see their movements particularly Hiei's. Come with me. It's time for you to get some training in as well."

Akira felt the knots in his stomach tighten when he saw Hiei and Yoko sit down on the sidelines. Yoko had told him plenty of times that Kurama was the one to fear the most thanks to his age and amount of experience. He wasn't comforted when he saw Yoko's eyes widen as Akira followed her father out into the clearing. 

Kurama chuckled when he noticed how Akira's face paled. "Ah, so Yoko's warned you about me I see. You have no need to worry; I will not take it too far. I have no wish to injure you."

Akira felt the sick knots begin to untie themselves at the reassurance but he still felt somewhat nervous. He nodded and said "Ok!"

Kurama launched at Akira quickly and pulled the rose whip out of nowhere. Akira managed to dodge the thorns and get out of Kurama's way. He looked around to notice he couldn't find Kurama. The human felt his aura behind him and jumped out of the way.

"You can't just dodge; you have to be on the offense!" Kurama yelled as he sent a burst of demon energy at Akira hitting him straight in the abdomen.

Yoko began to wring her hands as she watched Akira hit the ground and struggle to get up quickly. Hiei watched his daughter instead of the fight, focused on her reaction.

'She shouldn't be so nervous; she knows Kurama would stop before he hurt the boy. So I wonder, why is Yoko getting so worked up?' Hiei thought.

Kurama used his whip to grasp Akira's ankle and trip him onto his back. Akira grunted as he hit the hard ground. The whip released him and he saw it coming for a strike. He rolled out of the way, jumped to his feet, and sent a psychic energy blast straight at Kurama. Kurama leapt out of the way gracefully and landed in front of Akira. Impulsively Akira gasped sent a second blast straight at Kurama hitting him in the chest. Kurama was actually pushed back and Akira went for a punch. The kitsune caught the human boy's fist in his own hand. The boy smirked and used his telekinesis to throw Kurama off of him and into a tree. They paused.

Kurama smiled. "Very well done, once you decided to fight back instead of running away I could see your improvement. I'll even admit that you surprised me with that last one."

Akira blinked and smiled. "Thank you Kurama-san!" 

Yoko was finally able to breathe. 'Finally, you stepped up Akira-kun.'

The blonde boy straightened up and stretched his arms. He began to wipe the dirt off of his arms and stopped in shock when a blade was pressed against his throat.

"Never," he heard Hiei say. "Relax just after a battle has ensued. You never know who or what is going to come next. When an enemy is around, even dead, keep your guard up."

Hiei's voice echoed inside Akira's mind. "Keep your guard up!" He heard an older man say. "The enemy is still here!" Instantly, the human tensed up and his eye blanked out.

"AKIRA-KUN!" Yoko yelled as she rushed over to him.

Hiei removed the blade from the boy's neck and they all surrounded him.

Kurama looked in his eyes. "It must be a vision; he's in the state he was in at the mall that day."

Akira's body shook as he heard voices. "Keep your guard up!" He heard the man yell again. A woman's voice responded. "I am! But protecting our son comes first!"

The man's voice echoed and Akira looked up at a shadowed face in fear. He could see himself clinging to the woman's leg. Evil cackling was heard as he saw the man send a psychic energy stream straight towards his opponent. His opponent vanished and appeared behind him only to stab a sword through his torso, killing the man. Akira heard the woman scream and he was pulled into her embrace.

"Mommy won't let them hurt you… She promises." She said through ragged breath.

Akira blinked. Everything around him was on fire. People were screaming and dying. "W-what's going on?" He could see and hear himself say.

"The clan is being attacked sweetie… they're trying to wipe us out." His mother said frantically.

Suddenly she screamed and put Akira behind her. "No, no! Anything but him! Why? Why him? He's just a child!"

The demon before them tilted her pink haired head to the side and smirked. "You know why woman. He has more than one psychic ability meaning he is a freak even among you; he is a threat." The demon extracted her claws and went in for an attack.

Akira broke free of his vision violently and stopped breathing. This wasn't just a vision… this was a memory. A memory that broke free.

The next sensation Akira felt was an intense stinging on his right cheek and air soothing his burning lungs. He blinked and looked over at Yoko who still had her hand raised after the strike to his face.

"Akira-kun, are you all right? What did you see?" She asked frantically. "That was the longest vision I've ever seen you go through!"

Akira couldn't answer. He couldn't find his voice. His parents… they had died protecting him. His family… had been attacked by demons because of their psychic abilities. His mother's killer… looked exactly like En. 

A/N: There you all go! The story is starting to come together nicely, finally. I'm already drafting Chapter 7 so that should be up soon. I hope to post that before Thursday March 20th, 2008 which is the day I leave for Boston to attend the Annual Anime Boston Convention starting the next day. Please leave some reviews! They make my day!


	10. Chapter 7: Revelations and Heartache

A/N: Hey there everyone

A/N: Hey there everyone! Hope you all enjoyed the previous chapter! I thought it came out pretty good. Some plot elements that will be solved later throughout the story were FINALLY introduced. As you know though, it's still got a while to go! But I think it is coming along quite nicely.

Oh well, enough of my babbling! On with the story!

Chapter 7: Memories, Revelations, and Heartache

"Damn! We could've killed them both too!" Complained En. She and Ali were walking towards their lair in the Makai. "And we can't waste any more time without reporting to our master. We already wasted almost two days."

Ali grunted. "That's 'cause he's going to kill us for this. They're a threat and we didn't get rid of them. Damn Reikai Tentei!" Ali kicked a stone wall with his foot cracking it in the process.

The two eventually reached their destination. They took each other's hands and proceeded to meet their master.

"So you failed." A voice echoed.

The couple shuddered. En was the first to find her voice. "Regretfully so, my lord. The Forbidden Child and the Spirit Detective name Yusuke intervened. Other than that, we would have destroyed those two brats and drained the remaining human energy."

Their master stayed silent for a moment. He gazed at a mirror close to him and watched the fight again. The demon paused the picture on Yoko. "This girl, her energy intrigues me. You felt something odd, right Ali?"

Ali nodded in response. "Yes, almost like there was too much of it to take. I hurt to obtain the mere sample of her energy I managed to collect."

"So much energy it hurt…" Their master muttered. "So the rumor is true. Because of her highly unusual mix of demon blood, her power has escalated beyond her normal limits. Not to mention she is also extraordinarily beautiful." He smirked as he finished his last comment.

En blinked. "Sir, what does beauty have to do with this? She is a threat; a part of the Reikai Tentei! As well as that other boy… He seemed familiar to me." She placed her thumbnail to her lips and bit on the edge with her teeth, lost in thought.

The demon lord stood and chuckled. "That human, that psychic, is the boy we were after years ago. He managed to survive when we destroyed his family. He is problem that needs to be disposed of immediately. That boy… unlike most psychics he was born with multiple psychic abilities. He has practically no limit to what he can do and if he lives much longer, Yoko and this boy together will destroy everything we are trying to accomplish. Your new mission, as of right now, is to seek and destroy that human."

Ali looked confused. "Why not destroy Yoko as well?"

Their master chuckled low in his throat and smirked evilly. "Because, dear Ali, that would be a waste. If she is used properly by us, defeating the Reikai Tentei and achieving our goals will be all too easy. Besides, she is strong, different, and gorgeous. Making her our weapon AND my queen sounds very enticing."

"You would mate with that abomination master?" En screamed.

The demon lord erupted from the shadows. He was wearing a white skin tight outfit just like the others but including a dark blue cape. He had green hair that went to the back of his knees and a sword hilted on his belt. His red eyes bore into En's amethyst eyes so deeply she backed away. "I, Lord Fiore, will mate with whoever I please En. And," He added. "I don't appreciate our future weapon being called an abomination. Yoko will be the reason we win this war we have started. She will also be a very powerful ruler alongside me. No one would DARE challenge her once she has realized her potential."

En shuddered. "You're- you're right my lord. I wasn't thinking, please forgive me."

Fiore relaxed and brushed his hand against En's face. "You didn't know any better… You are forgiven."

Ali smiled. "Also, once we rule the human world, Yoko would know _just_ how to deal with them for us."

"Exactly right," Fiore stated.

/Scene Change/

A few days had passed after Akira's vision during group training. Yoko had noticed that her human friend was horribly withdrawn from everything around him. He seemed to be constantly thinking. The silver haired demon was beginning to become very worried as she watched him put his empty chopsticks into his mouth while at dinner with the family. She found herself unable to stomach much food, seeing him so lost and lonely was making her sick.

Kurama finally spoke up, "Akira!"

Akira just continued to stare at the table with his empty chopsticks frozen between his lips. However, he was brought out of his stupor in one shocking instant when Hiei was somehow out of his seat and roughly pulling Akira up to meet his face by the boy's collar. The teen blinked and gasped dropping his chopsticks causing them to click onto the table and roll off.

Hiei yanked on the clothing in his fist harder. "YOU'VE BEEN LIKE THIS FOR DAYS NOW! SUCK IT UP AND TELL US WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU OR I'M GOING TO BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF YOU!"

Kurama jumped to his feet and grasped Hiei's arm. "THAT'S ENOUGH HIEI!"

The fire demon's grasp relaxed a little. He closed his eyes for a moment and took a breath before opening them again. "Snap out of this state. You've been so out of it that you haven't noticed you're hurting someone." His tone was still angry.

Yoko looked down at her plate when she saw Akira turn to look at her. She heard her father continue.

"What Hiei is attempting to say, is that if you don't come back to Earth soon and talk to someone, you are going to truly hurt Yoko. We both know you don't wish to harm her, correct?" Kurama explained coolly.

Akira nodded as Hiei released him completely. He sighed heavily and sat back down. Looking at Yoko he finally spoke. "It's my vision that's made me this way; but I'm sure you all knew that already."

Yoko looked at him out of the corner of her eye as he continued. "I saw what happened before I woke up with no memory years ago. I –I think I did anyway…"

The demon family looked at him in shock. Kurama and Hiei looked a little confused. Yoko stared him down.

She leaned in to look him in the eyes. "Really? I mean you said you couldn't remember what happened to your family. Just that they were all murdered."

Akira nodded. "There was a woman screaming for me and protecting me. A man died trying to protect us using psychic energy. They called me their son. The last thing I saw in my vision was an attacker about to try and kill both my mother and I… It's… I don't…" He groaned and covered his eyes.

Yoko took his hands away from his eyes and looked at him. "Who was it? Akira… someone you know?" She grasped his hands firmly when she felt him begin to shake. It was plain for her to see his eyes gloss over as he fought back tears.

"En…" He said simply. "That demon from before… The girl, En she was about to attack us."

The other three gasped. Yoko began grinding her teeth until she saw Akira's face twinge with pain. She released his captured hands and pulled him into a hug. She didn't care that her parents were staring across the table, or care about what they may say about her actions. Akira needed comfort and he was someone who responded to physical contact well. (A/N: And not like THAT you pervs… Sheesh!) Akira accepted the contact and let his head hit the demon's shoulder.

Kurama looked at Hiei who seemed as though he were about to beat the boy senseless. He motioned for them to leave the table and Hiei followed with a grunt of irritation. The couple left the dining room and headed over to their room where they could talk in private. Hiei sat stiffly on the bed with his legs crossed and arms folded. Kurama fell exasperatedly next to his mate.

"So there's a connection…" Kurama stated.

"Heh, just great. This stupid situation doesn't make any sense to me. What are they after? Why is Akira here? Why is this all so messed up?" Hiei yelled.

Kurama took the back of Hiei's white color in his long fingered hand and pulled him down to lay next to him. He wrapped an arm around him and felt the little fire demon snuggle into his chest. The kitsune toyed with Hiei's soft black spikes as he responded. "I don't know Hiei. Everything is pretty jumbled up at the moment. Almost nothing makes sense right now."

Hiei growled and shifted to rest his head on his love's shoulder and clung onto his torso. "What the hell was that downstairs too? That's not the first time Yoko's acted strange around that human. I don't like the way things are going between them."

"Hm," Kurama said. "Well if it's bound to happen it's going to Hiei. Yet I will admit it worries me too. Yoko is a demon and Akira is a human no matter how you look at it. Then again, it's the same situation between Yusuke and Keiko."

"That's different! Yusuke was originally human! He was raised to be one, and was with Keiko before he ever found out about his demon ancestry."

"And Yoko was raised in the human world. She may think and act like a demon, love, but there's no mistaking that her heart belongs to this world." Kurama added. "We can not neglect that fact. But I will talk to them later about their relationship."

The fox leaned in and gave Hiei a deep kiss. "For now, you need to relax or I'm afraid you may say or do something you'll regret my little flame."

Hiei snorted. "Kisses don't solve everything."

Kurama smirked and pinned the smaller demon beneath him. Almost instantly he was attacking Hiei's neck and beginning to rid him of his cloak.

Hiei gasped before scolding his mate. "SEX DOESN'T SOLVE EVERYTHING EITHER!" He tried to wriggle his way out of the position they were in.

Kurama chuckled and held Hiei's hands over his head. "That," his voice was low and husky, "is a complete lie Hiei. You know that I solve everything between us this way." He began to attack his neck and earlobes, sucking on them and nibbling slightly.

Hiei moaned slightly and stopped struggling. "B-but we don't have time for this…mmm…" He gasped as Kurama removed his cloak and pushed his shirt up, revealing the bare chiseled chest below him. "Li-listen Kurama… ahh… I know that-that you are just doing this to distract me from my anger…"

Kurama bit down on the muscle between his mate's neck and shoulder causing the smaller demon to gasp and moan. "So what if I am? If a technique works, you USE it Hiei."

Hiei looked at him. He could feel his face heat up as it was getting red from Kurama's teasing. "This, kitsune, is exactly why we never get any important discussions done when we are alone."

/Scene Change/

Downstairs, Yoko was still holding Akira while he tried to relax. She wanted to do something for him. 'Somehow,' she thought to herself. 'This isn't enough. I KNOW it isn't.'

The blond haired boy sat up slowly. Yoko watched him for a few moments. As he straightened up to stand Yoko realized she couldn't stand the empty moment. She jumped in to meet his lips with hers and felt the warmth from his body begin to surge through hers once again. Akira froze in shock for a moment before he began to respond to the kiss. Yoko opened her pale pink lips slightly. The teenage boy did not hesitate at all as he deepened the kiss and explored her mouth with vigor. The demon girl felt her body heat and wrapped her arms around his neck to indicate she didn't want it to end anytime soon.

Akira almost couldn't contain himself. He felt hot and heavy. His arms clung to her waist and pulled her slim body closer to his. Once the two bodies met Yoko gasped into the kiss. Akira experimented by pressing into her a little more and in return, the beauty in his arms only kissed back harder. Eventually… the two reluctantly separated from each other.

Yoko felt as though she almost couldn't breathe. It was like something had caused both of her lungs to collapse painlessly. The way Akira looked at her, like he desperately needed her, made the demon feel weak for the first time. His eyes were always so expressive. Even if he wouldn't say what he was thinking, she could always get an idea of what was going on in his mind. She rested herself against him and Akira placed his chin on her head. The two held one another, just breathing in rhythm.

A/N: Hey! Sorry that it's a little shorter than some others! There wasn't much more to put here until the next scene which I rather have in the next chapter! I PROMISE, seriously I'll bet watching anime on this promise, to have the next chapter out by Sunday this week! Hope you liked some of the steamy situations here.


	11. Chapter 8: Unstable Interest

A/N: Hello everybody! Here's the, regretfully, delayed chapter. My bad; I have a lot of issues right now. My father went through his intense open-heart surgery on April 30th so we're exhausted at my house. It's made him hard to deal with thus; my mother treats me like shit. I'm looking at apartments for sure now.

For the next few days I am making this fan fiction first priority. I plan on having two chapters up tonight. Chapter 10 will be up hopefully by Friday sometime!

Chapter 8: Unstable Interest

It was a bright day out this particular morning. Gym would definitely be held outside. The sunbeams warmed the room and the students within it. Little particles of dust revealed by the sun's rays could be seen floating aimlessly around in the air. Yoko sighed and continued to stare off during her class. To be honest, she'd been so preoccupied with looking out the window the demon girl couldn't recall what class she was supposed to be in. Yet despite what she was staring at, Yoko was concentrating on other things. She was off thinking about Akira's connection with Ali and En; and about her budding relationship with Akira.

'No,' Yoko told herself. 'Akira is my partner. And, he's a human. I'm a demon. It just … doesn't happen.' She became depressed as she continued on in her thoughts. 'It, we, can never happen.'

Her thoughts were cut off by a text book slamming itself on her desk. Uncharacteristically, Yoko jumped and almost fell out of her chair in shock. The teacher who had dropped the book looked at her with worry as she picked it up gently. Yoko took a deep breath and calmed herself.

"Minnamino-san, is something wrong? It is not like you to ignore a lecture or daydream during anything class related really." The teacher did seem truly concerned.

Yoko blinked and smiled at her gracefully. "Not at all sensei, I suppose I am just extremely tired. Studying for midterms is quite time consuming you know."

The teacher nodded. "Well this information will be on the midterm so do try to pay better attention." She walked away briskly.

"Don't worry sensei! I won't space out again." Yoko added attempting to sound optimistic. In reality, she didn't know if she could focus. So many new things were developing and practically threatening her carefully outlined life. She glanced over at Akira who was apparently staring at her. He panicked and practically threw is head into his notebook. Yoko couldn't help but laugh a little and smile.

The morning classes finished and Yoko made her way to her locker for her outdoor shoes and lunch. Upon reaching her locker she realized she had forgotten her bento box. She groaned. Yoko never forgot things like her bento. This was just turning out to be a day that she couldn't wait for to end.

"Missing something?"

Yoko knew that voice anywhere. She looked over to her left to see her mother, Hiei, standing there holding her wrapped up bento box. "Mom… thank you. I can't believe I forgot it."

Hiei handed it to her. "Neither could I. But this gives us a chance to talk so I'll take advantage of it. Let's go outside."

Yoko nodded and obeyed. Once Hiei found a spot he was sure was hidden he sat down under a tree. Yoko sat in front of him and opened her bento to eat her lunch. After letting her eat a few bites of rice her mother finally spoke.

"Yoko, I want to talk about Akira." Hiei said plainly.

'Here it comes.' She thought. "What about Akira Mom?"

He looked at her seriously. "Your Papa and I are aware that you have feelings for him. Don't try to deny it; we've been watching the way you two interact." He shifted to sit with his legs criss-crossed and arms folded. "You know that you being a demon and him being a human makes it impossible for you to stay together…"

Yoko winced. "Is there some kind of unwritten rule against it?"

"No, but the demons of the Makai will never let it go easily. My main concern is that he is a human. He will age and die thousands, maybe millions of years before you do Yoko." Hiei stated firmly.

The teenage demon stared at her lunch angrily. She had already considered that. In fact, that thought had been what was distracting her all day. Even if they stayed together no matter what in a few short decades it would all mean nothing. Akira would grow old and eventually die. Yoko knew she couldn't handle that fate.

Hiei continued. "I'm not trying to tell you what to do; I just don't want you to end up hurting yourself."

Yoko nodded. "I know but… I was already thinking about it. I know I can never be with Akira Mom. Besides… he has enough problems. I'd just make his life even more difficult."

Hiei looked at her disdainfully. "Look Yoko, I'm not trying to upset you or anything. I just don't want this ending in disaster when it doesn't have to. Understand?"

"Yes Mom, I understand." Hiei rose to his feet and turned to leave.

"Although I do want you to know," he added before walking away. "Your Papa and I already decided that no matter what your final decision is concerning that human, we will be on your side and support you."

With that last statement Hiei vanished leaving Yoko under the tree with the bento she barely touched in hand. She placed the lid back on her lunch and stuffed it into her backpack as the demon stood. An uneasy sick feeling began to twist Yoko's insides around. A romance with Akira was out of the question. Yet… thinking of never being held by Akira again like the other night, brought out a whole new surge of emotions.

'If we could never kiss again… What if all I could do to comfort him was a hand on the shoulder and a smile? That's not enough! I want to share his pain… I want to…' Yoko's thoughts began to cause her physical pain. Her lungs refused to take in air as her mind raced. 'Akira and I… can't be more… He'd be in more danger… But if I can't have-I can't have him…' Heart swollen and shoulders stiffening from sharp pain began to weigh her down back to her knees. She felt her knee caps slam into the pebbles and dirt below her. Her fist clutched the clothing covering her breasts as though trying to take hold of her now pained heart. 'I- I need him… I can't have him, but I need him! Why? I- I can't…' Her mind was spinning; every time the young demon thought of how she couldn't have Akira she felt another shot of pain course through her veins making her feel as though they may explode causing her to bleed from the stress.

Everything about her felt hot. The grass felt icy to her hand as she tried to stabilize herself. Hiei's words echoed in her mind, "**You know that you being a demon and him being a human makes it impossible for you to stay together…**"

It all became too much. Although Yoko was a demon… humanity had an effect on her heart whether she liked it or not. And her human heart was in pain. She allowed herself to fall over sideways as she pictured Akira's face in her mind. Her eyes jammed shut as Yoko clutched her chest in emotional agony. After a few moments of trying to shake it off Yoko finally broke. Hot wet streams of tears began to flow down her cheeks. The tears collected on the ground as they transformed into smoky hiruseki stones.

Minnamino Yoko cried through her next class and stayed motionless on the ground for the one after that.

/Scene Change/

Hiei went to see Kurama who was talking with Yusuke and Genkai at the moment at the temple. He had seen his daughter's breakdown through his Jagan eye and decided that something needed to be done immediately. The fire demon entered through the window and stood in front of them all with a look on his face that meant business.

"We have a situation with our daughter. I talked to her after dropping off her lunch like I said I would." Hiei began.

Kurama sighed. "Did she try to fight you on it? It's merely infatuation we knew it would happen…" He stopped abruptly when Hiei shook his head.

Hiei looked off to the side. "No, she agreed with me. But I checked up on her with my Jagan after I left. Kurama, she was beyond distraught with the thought of not being with Akira romantically. Her thoughts hurt her so intensely that she felt physical pain and fell over holding her chest. She couldn't move… it caused her such pain that she cried in broad daylight without hesitation!" Hiei himself felt almost hysterical. His daughter had never acted in a manner such as that before.

The other three in front of him looked at him in shock. Yusuke cleared his throat.

"Then it's love, the real thing. I didn't see THAT coming necessarily."

Genkai crossed her arms. "You got that right. Then again, I can't picture our Yoko with a demon. They'd either look down on her or she'd feel the need to constantly prove herself to be the stronger one in the relationship."

Kurama sighed and massaged the bridge of his nose with his index and thumb finger. "So, should we try to help them be together? Yet the entire demon world will be after them for it, if the human world ever found out the two of them would be completely segregated from society, and Akira is still human. He will grow old and die unlike Yoko."

Yusuke looked at Kurama. "But those two would fight off anyone who tried to break that. And as for the human and death thing, they should focus on now. Just because you two," he pointed at Hiei and Kurama, "are demons it doesn't mean something can't go wrong and one of you won't be killed today or tomorrow. So it's a little different, but death will be in every relationship in the end won't it?"

Everyone blinked. Genkai laughed. "Yusuke, that was too astute for you. Don't do that again dumb ass. Besides," she said looking at Kurama and Hiei. "That girl and that boy have been drawn to each other from the very start. It's too late to try and avoid this now. You have very little control over this situation no matter what you would like to believe."

Hiei grunted and looked into Kurama's eyes, almost as if he was telling him his thoughts by looking at him. Kurama stared back and then turned to look at Genkai. "As much as Hiei and I hate to admit it, you are right. We should just… step aside and help them fight for each other."

His fire demon lover nodded and stared off out the window.

/Scene Change/

Yoko never returned to class. She actually left without Akira long before school hours were up. The distraught girl had been wandering around the city for a few hours. She wasn't even deep in thought anymore, Yoko felt absolutely blank.

It was the late evening by the time the park came into view. The sky was orange and yellow. The setting sun was blended into the surrounding colors so well that the faint crescent moon was easier to find as it appeared. Yoko sighed as she took in the scenery. It was so calm and quiet. After a moment or two she found her way to the swing set and dropped her bag next to her. Yoko just allowed herself to sway gently back and forth. For the first time all day she didn't feel any pressure, no pain, and the ten thousand voices in her head finally stopped screaming at her from all different angles. Yet this blank calm feeling was not as good as it seemed, for long.

Almost in an instant Yoko felt a bone-crushing blow to her back when she was least expecting it. Before she could even react she was raised in the air being choked by none other than Ali. She gasped and forced the heel of her foot hard into his face causing him to release his grip. Just as the teen's feet hit the ground En had her claws digging into her arms causing blood to seep through her school uniform. Yoko couldn't free herself as quick as she should have. Ali slammed his fist into her diaphragm causing her to lose the ability to breathe. Her eyes widened and she attempted to recollect herself.

Everything stopped as soon as it started. It would have to be the only time Yoko would perceive Yusuke's obnoxious voice as music to her ears.

"Two on one isn't fair…" Yusuke snarled. "Then again, neither is three on two but I never said I fight fair!" He punched Ali out of the way and began to fight him one on one.

En jumped up into the air still holding the shocked Yoko. Her eyes focused and she realized that below her dangling feet were her parents. A knot in her stomach doubled, no tripled at the sight of her parents having to save the day. Just like when she was little. Ali and En were right, she was an abomination, and she was a sad excuse for a demon. Maybe blood and race weren't enough to qualify as a demon. Kurama looked on calmly and Hiei flicked his katana out of its sheath with his thumb placing his right hand on the hilt.

Yoko finally snapped out of her stupor and pulled a hiruseki stone of hers from her breast pocket. She smirked and closed her fist around it. Before En even noticed she had something a smoky silver crystallized blade slashed through her stomach. Yoko was released and landed on her feet, sword in hand.

En held her abdomen as she bled from the wound. "You bitch! Where the FUCK did you get that?" She screeched shakily as she stumbled out of the air.

Yoko grinned. "Oh this? Well I just use the same technique Papa uses to manipulate his plants but instead I manipulate one of my own hiruseki. It's strong, sharp, and ice cold on anyone it cuts. But the best part," She continued with a low growl in her voice. "Is that I am the only one with such a weapon so my opponent never knows what could hit them."

En growled in response. "You know, you think WE'RE a problem? Now all you've done is prove our lord needs to take you himself. Huh, that's even worse for you."

Hiei snapped, "Well we'll be ready for him!"

Kurama seemed to be the only one to get her meaning. "What do you mean he'll come take her himself?"

Ali laughed in amusement. "We're here to take Yoko with us. Our lord decided she's too valuable and too desirable to leave her alone."

Yoko blinked. "Desirable?"

Ali was beside En in an instant. "Well you'll find out the hard way. We'll kill that human of yours… and our lord will come for you Yoko."

Panic took hold of her as she screamed. "YOU WILL NOT TOUCH HIM OR SO HELP ME I WILL SKIN YOU ALIVE AND TEAR YOUR INNARDS OUT PIECE BY PIECE!"

As they flew into the air running away again En threw something at Yoko that hurt worse than any punch could. "Just face it Yoko, you CAN'T have a human as a mate. Yeah, we've noticed the way you look at him and worry about him. We've been watching. Get used to the thought that he will die and leave you behind. Humans and demons don't belong together, ever…" They vanished with a gust of wind.

Yoko stared in shock at the spot they had just been in. The words echoed in her mind. 'Humans and demons don't belong together, ever…' The pain in her chest returned full force and she dropped her sword.

'You know that you being a demon and him being a human makes it impossible for you to stay together…' Hiei's words were the same as En's in the end.

Stiff pale white fingers clutched their own chest painfully tight. Knees buckle and the weakening body begins its descent to the ground. The sound of Hiei and Kurama's worried voices as they caught the broken body of what used to be the strong and formidable Yoko blended together.

Much to everyone's shock… Minnamino Yoko blacked out right there in the park.

A/N: Wow… finally. Two months later. I officially suck. I have the next chapter outlined and it will be up later tonight! I swear!! It's all I have to do after work for once so I can concentrate. Please read and reviews! Reviews encourage me to write faster!!


	12. Apology

Hey how's it going

Hey how's it going? Sorry about the verrrrrrrrrrrrry long vacation I took from writing this fan fiction but I truly became buried under work from my courses. But, never fear! Updates are coming FINALLY I have the next 4-5 chapters outlined and will be posting one today I am sure. I plan on posting a few tomorrow as well. Please take pity on me! This has been one hell of a year for me and I haven't gotten ANY personal writing done in about 2 months… So, I promise to have at least two new chapters up by midnight tonight, October 9, 2008! I won't be surprised if I've lost some of my readers and I can understand that although it makes me sad. **Sigh**… Oh well, can't blame anyone but myself. I will tell you one thing before I get back to writing for you though… the story… is going to get really nuts from here on out. So, if there is any confusion as to what is going on then please, feel free to let me know. Thank you for the support. Again, sorry!


	13. Chapter 9: Perfect Weapon

A/N: Again, please don't give up on me

A/N: Again, please don't give up on me! Now that I can actually just focus on writing during my free time, I'll be able to get this fan fiction finished before the summer ends. I actually want to be finished by mid August.

Keep reading and reviewing! My disclaimers are in the earlier chapters as well as details. Also, if there's any question of where I came up with Yoko's sword, I REALLY invented that weapon. It came to me when I was drawing a picture of them. So I have total DIBS on that one people!

Chapter 9: Perfect Weapon

There was nothing but silence permeating the room. In the dark sat three demons who could not even begin to think of what to say. The air was thick and heavy. The atmosphere felt extremely tight.

To nobody's surprise, Yusuke was the one to break the silence. "Agh! What the hell is going on? Seems like everything is supposed to be tied together somehow but none of it makes any sense."

Kurama sighed. "Yes I agree. I wonder what they want with Yoko now?"

Yusuke responded, "God knows. Hey wait! Remember that incident when she was still a little kid? They were really interested in Yoko's energy for some reason."

"How could any of us forget that?" Hiei spat forcefully. "I'm still pissed off."

Kurama cleared his throat. "Actually Yusuke, not long ago Hiei and I discussed that very event. We've never really understood why she was so important to that demon. It's obvious her energy is exceptional, but exactly what is so great about it?"

Yusuke shrugged. "Who the hell knows? But these demons now… they suck out the energy of other people too."

"But remember Yusuke," Hiei began. " They weren't just draining Yoko last time. They were holding her completely. And En recently wasn't trying to just steal Yoko's energy today either; she was trying to kidnap her altogether. There's something about YOKO all together that they want."

"Damn it… but what the hell could it be?" Yusuke all but whined.

Kurama stayed thoughtful as the other two verbally deliberated it. Every demon so far was interested in Yoko due to her energy, yet they had no interest in her energy alone. 'Could it be her abilities due to her different type of demonic energy they are interested in?'

Hiei finally stopped and focused on Kurama who remained statuesque.

From the doorway the sound of a clearing throat was heard. The three turned to see Koenma standing there. He looked as though he regretted being there altogether. "I was hoping that I would never have to bring up this subject… But there seems to be no way I can avoid it."

He walked over to sit with the three demons, Genkai and Botan following behind him. "You will probably figure it out before the others Hiei. Yoko is of three races of demons. Koorime, kitsune, and fire jaganshi as you know are what make her up. Yet what is so special? There have been mixed demons before but the concentration is on Yoko. This has taken me quite some time to get any idea about it and then I heard my father awhile back, when Yoko was kidnapped that first time."

Kurama interrupted him. "Wait, so there IS something about Yoko in general that isn't just energy related?"

Koenma nodded. "Right. Hiei," he turned to the small fire demon that sat on the window glaring at him. "If you think about it, besides the fact that you are a male, why else did the Koorime throw you from the island?"

"They said I was an incarnation of evil, destruction, a weapon with a mind." Hiei snorted.

Nodding slowly Koenma responded. "And Yoko is the daughter of that "weapon with a mind". She is the offspring of the Forbidden Child. Hiei, You probably have some things about you that even Kurama doesn't know when it comes to the Koorime in you. Besides the hiruseki, is there something else about you related to the Koorime?"

Hiei stared in shock.

Kurama shook his head. "Hiei is a male! He is a fire demon, he's never used anything else."

"But," Koenma started. "Is a reason they were afraid of him because ice and fire shouldn't mix? Maybe there was something about him that made it so that-"

"ENOUGH!" Hiei bellowed. The room sat silent for a while until he composed himself. "What would this have to do with Yoko?"

The ancient Kitsune stared at his mate. Hiei hadn't denied the fact that he could have Koorime related abilities. Had Hiei truly been hiding something from him and everyone else? He looked at the fire jaganshi, waiting for him to turn and make eye contact. Hiei seemed to be avoiding looking his way, focusing his gaze on Koenma.

Koenma said, "Hiei, Yoko is also a mix. Many demons call her an abomination as well. She has Koorime in her. But she has FIRE in her. She is looked on as you were, so what does this tell you?"

Hiei gasped. The others hadn't seemed to process it yet. "She can… No…"

Koenma sighed. "I'm afraid so Hiei. Yoko, if ever manipulated or used, is the perfect living weapon. Unbelievable destructive. She could manipulate ice and fire at the same time. It's not that Yoko is just exceptional herself. Yoko… Yoko is a weapon to them. From what I heard my father say, if she can do what YOU can do Hiei, then a demon may be able to use her to destroy whatever he wishes."

"Well, what CAN you do, HIEI?" Kurama snapped. It was true. Hiei had an ability that tied him to the Koorime that he had hidden from the kitsune.

Hiei stood wearily and walked outside. "It's not that I was hiding it Kurama… I didn't want to remember it. If no one else knew and if I didn't think of it, then to me it didn't have to be there." The group stood on the porch of Genkai's temple while Hiei walked away to the woods. Upon deciding that hurting anything plant related would only make Kurama angrier he settled for the lake and the rock next to it. After letting out an exasperated sigh, Hiei closed his eyes and pulled off his cloak dropping it to the ground with his katana. He waited for a moment, concentrating. Pulling a black hiruseki from a velvet pouch in his pocket he closed his hand on it. After a few moments he made a sword from it, much like Yoko did.

"I don't need to use the sword, but this way it will be more controlled," he explained. Within seconds a blue and black flame engulfed the sword before Hiei struck the rock forcefully.

Yusuke finally spoke up. "So another sword trick? Big deal!"

Genkai looked him. "Bend down and I'll tell you something about that sword dim wit."

Yusuke leaned over so Genkai could tell him. Instead he got a smack to the head. "Pay attention dim wit! He already said he didn't need the sword and take a look at what that sword just DID."

Rubbing his head, Yusuke looked at where Hiei had struck the rock. Shock enveloped him. He rock was now in frozen pieces on the ground while the area surrounding the rubble was what really blew him away. The rock wasn't the target; it was used as people use pillows to silence a bullet. The ground had deep scars that cut all the way past the lake and on. The earth burned with the mysterious black and blue flames from the sword. The water was gone. Despite Hiei's effort to control it, the attack was currently burning a few trees to their death only to fall apart in frozen chunks of burnt wood.

"Usually, fire and ice cancel each other out. But for some reason, this happens. It's like an icy fire. It burns and freezes at the same time. If used on an opponent for example, he would burn and freeze. If the sword cut through his middle then his innards would melt and his body would be frozen in a burning state of agony forever. From what I know, the ice doesn't melt." Hiei finished.

Kurama stared at the destruction. "That's not all, is it Hiei?"

Hiei sighed. "I'm not entirely sure. As a kid, if I couldn't use my sword for protection I would resort to this. It spun out of control a lot all of the demons in the surrounding area would be frozen and continue to scream in agony as they burned in the ice… I'd often use my sword to stop the screams."

"It seems as though if this was used, it could devastate an entire city within minutes. Leaving it frozen, burnt, and torturing the victims until they died, in ice somehow." Koenma stated. "The idea is that if they were to ever get a hold of Yoko, then they could use her to destroy any world. As you see, buildings would burn and people would turn to tortured ice figurines."

Kurama rubbed his temples. "Hiei, I hate to tell you but it doesn't make any sense. This should A: not be possible and B: MAKE SENSE! Is it fire or ice? Freezes or burns?"

Hiei's hiruseki sword banished. "I told you, I am not entirely sure. I know both parts contradict themselves. It should burn or freeze. But here, it appears to freeze and burn."

"That's a new kind of freezer burn isn't it?" Yusuke asked.

Botan rolled her eyes. "Yes Yusuke very clever. But imagine! The perimeter Hiei destroyed and he said that's when it was CONTROLLED."

Everyone went silent and stared at the frozen, burning, broken land before their eyes. If Yoko was able to do that, if Ali and En succeeded in kidnapping her for his own destructive purposes, they didn't see a way to stop her. Hiei himself was lost on how to stop such an ability.

A/N: As I promised! There's one chapter! The other will be posted either this afternoon or tonight after I get out of work. Sorry it's not very long but I wanted to post it before class and I don't think it could go very far. Concerning this new ability… I know. It doesn't make ANY sense. But I saw her and Hiei with this unstoppable icy fire ability and just had to use it. Don't hate, my brain confounds me as well from time to time. Please leave some reviews! Thank you!


	14. Chapter 10: Disaster

A/N: A little late. Thanks for the reviews. You will also be happy to know that this particular fan fiction is not necessarily the end of it…

Wait! What did I say? I'm not elaborating so you'll have to wait and see what comes out after I finish this bad boy up.

Disclaimers can be found in much earlier chapters of this story. I don't feel like retyping them out all of the time.

Chapter 10: Disaster

This morning was particularly tense. Hiei had refused breakfast determined to stay lost in thought in a tree. Kurama didn't try to fight him on it for once and silently sat off in his study closed off as well. Yoko and Akira awoke to the tense and silent scene confused. They decided the smart thing to do would be to grab a to go breakfast on the way to school. They slipped their shoes on and discreetly went out the door. Both were silent as they stopped by a vending machine with coffee and breakfast cereal bars. It was a cool and sunless day. The clouds didn't even seem to be moving. The wind blew erratically changing directions as it saw fit. The sky was such a dark and dreary grey that it could have been night if the clocks hadn't said otherwise. Leaves crunched underneath their shoes as Yoko absently nibbled on her cereal bar. Akira popped open his hot can of coffee and preceded to take a sip a little too quickly.

"Gyah!" He shouted when the scalding liquid burned his tongue and throat. Akira stuck out his now raw red tongue and fanned it in desperation.

Yoko couldn't stifle the laugh building inside of her. "Only you would do that Akira! Look at the side of the can." She ran her index fingers over the symbols that spelled out 'CAUTION: Hot coffee. Be careful.' The young demon girl then started to giggle again.

Akira glared at her in annoyance. "Well, I was thinking about something! Besides, no one ever reads the warnings on the can."

"Weak defense Akira. I mean that was really weak."

"Yeah well… you sound like Kurama when you laugh!"

Yoko giggled a bit more. "Oh my god I do! I never noticed I had his giggle before."

Akira smiled at her and began to blow into the can hoping to cool it off faster.

The two had finally reached school and finished their breakfasts before either of them spoke again.

Yoko said, "Hey Akira, what do you think was up with my parents this morning? They were both really off in their own little worlds. And in separate rooms! Even when they are angry with each other they stay around one another to deal with it."

"I don't know. It was really weird. Especially Kurama; now he was really out of character. It's not odd to see Hiei be silent and secluded. But to see Kurama like that was kind of disturbing." Akira commented.

Yoko sighed exasperated.

Akira took her hand in his and gave it a little squeeze. "It's fine. They are probably trying to figure out this Ali and En business."

"Yeah, you might be right." She returned the squeeze.

Yoko was enveloped in the thoughts of Ali and En all day. This Fiore character they kept mentioning wanted them to kidnap Yoko for some special reason. That demon from years ago kidnapped Yoko for a special reason too. They weren't out to kill her for being what she was. They had an interest in her. But, there was never anything special Yoko noticed about herself. Her parents had saved her from that other demon and now they had to pretty much save her from Ali and En twice. If anything, she was a weak and inexperienced demon according to her own opinion.

Her English teacher prattled on about some short story they had read. Yoko found it be something out of an anime. She dazed in and out of the teacher's explanation.

"And can anyone tell me what she failed to realize? The main character was never aware of…?" The teacher prodded.

A student stood up. "Her strength sensei. She never realized that her strength is actually what saved her own life and not her boyfriend."

The teacher nodded. The answer caught Yoko's attention. A flash of 8 years ago bolted through her mind's eye.

The teacher smiled. "So in an effort to save her boyfriend she in turn saved herself. The main character gives full credit to her boyfriend who had come to rescue her to begin with. Because of this, it is apparent that her flaw is that she is unable to recognize her own innate abilities to help others through herself."

Yoko froze.

The memory was there.

She was trapped; being drained of her energy by a demon.

Hiei tried to fight the demon off.

The next thing she saw was Hiei in the demon's grasp, bleeding and harmed.

And then… there was a severe pain to her head.

The demon grunted in pain as Yoko slammed her head into him.

The prison she was in… was in pieces at her feet…

She collapsed.

Her parents didn't rescue her… That power… The blue and black flame she used to destroy the orb confining her. The way her parents didn't notice her escape until it was in pieces…

Yoko stood up abruptly and bolted from the classroom. She ran to the roof. Breathing heavily she fumbled for her cell phone. Carefully opening the top and pressing the speed dial button for "HOME" Yoko realized they were coming after her for whatever that power she used all those years ago was.

Kurama answered the phone. "Moshi-moshi, Minnamino residence."

"Papa!" Yoko shouted into the phone.

"Yoko? Are you all right? You're supposed to be in school."

"I remember Papa; I used the blue and black fire…"

There was a deafening silence from Kurama's end.

"Papa are you there?"

"Yes Yoko… When was this?"

"You didn't rescue me entirely when I was 8 did you? Mom got hurt and I got angry. I used the fire to escape and then rammed into the demon hurting Mom. I just…I just remembered."

She heard a sigh and a moan from the other end. After another moment of silence she continued. "That's what they wanted isn't it; that blue and black fire? That's what they want now isn't it!" She shouted.

"We believe so Yoko… Perhaps you and Akira should come home for the rest of the day."

"Why didn't you ever TELL me?"

"We didn't have an explanation for it then! If anyone noticed how you got out of the orb confining you it would be Hiei!"

"So why didn't he say anything?"

"Because he was keeping it a secret from everyone I suppose. He has the ability too. But since yours stopped when you were younger when you wanted it to… apparently you have more control over this particular ability."

"But you never told me I broke out nor did anything. I could have tried to figure out how I did since I didn't remember due to my black out."

"Please, Yoko we were bewildered. We didn't know where to start. You didn't remember so we figured we could let it drop. What's important is right now and how we will deal with what is-"

"WE? No Papa. I have to figure out how I will deal with this. Akira and myself; they are out to kill both of us or use both of us because of certain abilities we have. And I honestly don't WANT to come see you OR Mom right now!" Yoko hung up and shut off her phone completely.

It may not necessarily be a big deal that they kept the facts of such an event from her, but it still hurt. According to Yoko now she wasn't only an abomination she was a freak too.

(Scene Change)

After lunch was gym class. Yoko was taking her time walking towards the gymnasium. Akira followed her silently. She was still filled with anger. As she stepped foot out of the door to leave for the gymnasium building, an ear shattering explosion came from that very direction. Yoko and Akira looked on in shock as the front of the building was now a gaping hole with rubble all around. They both ran towards to assist the screaming students only to stop in shock.

Fiore stepped out calmly with a smirk on his face. "So there you are… It is so nice to finally see you in person, Yoko."

"What the hell have you done?" Yoko's voice shook as she spoke.

"This? I was looking for you and they wouldn't tell me where you were. Think of it as a greeting."

"WHAT KIND OF GREETING INVOLVES HURTING MY FRIENDS?" Yoko shouted in an unstoppable rage.

Fiore glanced behind him, "Friends, with these HUMANS Yoko? Come now you are a demon. These humans are below you. Especially such a special demon like you."

Yoko cringed. This couldn't be happening. All of the students and teachers who were coming out of the school and out of the rubble heard him. They stopped in shock. Many stared at Yoko. Some looked at her in fear. People were dying, she was exposed, this was because of him; everything was because of this FIORE. Yoko screamed out of pure passion as she charged at him sending a ki blast his way. Fiore dodged the blast and jumped out of her way. Yoko Lunged for him again, this time going for direct contact.

She was too quick and managed to slice off some of his armor with her claws. The crowd around them gasped. Fiore looked down at the damage Yoko caused and looked back at her with a smirk.

"Heh, I like girls with a lot of fight in them."

Yoko growled menacingly and went for him again. But Akira stopped her.

"Yoko, I know. I KNOW you want to hurt this guy but he is no normal demon. He's also a psy-" Akira was cut off by Fiore grabbing him and throwing him into a wall. He grunted in pain and fell forward. After a moment Akira forced himself up. "A PSYCHIC! HE'S A PSYCHIC TOO YOKO BE CAREFUL!"

Yoko's head snapped towards Fiore. "WHAT?"

Before she knew it, the demon had grasped her arm and she froze. Yoko couldn't move, at all… Her eyes were all that could move as she shifted to look at Fiore. "Yes he's right. I can control people's bodies to do what I want them to do. Such as what I am doing to you right now, I wanted to you stop so you've stopped." He picked her up. "And now my dear Yoko, you will come with me and be my mate."

Yoko was sure her heart stopped beating… 'No…' She thought.

Akira sent a few ki blasts their way. "NO YOU CAN'T HAVE HER!"

Fiore dodged them and leapt into the air. He laughed as he vanished taking Yoko with him.

Akira stood dumbstruck in the middle of the crowd. Ambulances, police cruisers, fire trucks all came but he was unaware. Fiore had just kidnapped Yoko… He had just killed their fellow students and destroyed Yoko's life she worked so hard to keep together.

According to Akira…. Fiore was going to PAY.

A/N: All right it's moving now. Finally got it going. Whew! And, I am starting the next chapter RIGHT now so you should have this one tonight too! Yay!


	15. Chapter 11: Death and Control

A/N: Yeah baby we're moving right along. Now as I stated in the opening author's note for last chapter I will have a surprise for all of those who enjoyed this story when it is finished. It should be finished relatively soon seeing as my schoolwork has lessened for the time being. So I'm going to try and finish this story within the next week.

*See other chapters for disclaimer information. Thank you.

Chapter 11: Death and Control

Akira didn't know what to do for a moment. All he knew is they had to get Yoko back. He turned to go home when a pair of claws slashing his back stopped him. He yelped in pain and turned to find En grinning gleefully.

"Think you're going somewhere honey? We need to talk." En teased.

Akira held his shoulder with his right hand. "Oh yeah? What about?"

"About you silly. You figure out why we had to kill the other psychics? They were hiding someone they called the ultimate psychic and wouldn't tell us who it was. You're family was SO stubborn about it we just decided to slaughter them all. Then, when it came down to your parents and you, we figured it out." En said calmly.

Akira's eyes grew wide. "So, this whole time, you've been aware of who I was and where I was from?"

"Oh yeah. But what we NEVER thought you would survive the attack we sent at you! All it did was blank out your memory." She glared at him.

"Did Fiore think I was competition or something?"

"He knew of Yoko already and had plans to rule both the human and demon world alongside her. He didn't want any threats. But the fact that you ended up living with Yoko is something we NEVER expected! Priceless really. Now where was I? Oh, yes that's right!" En lunged at him again but Akira used a shield of psychic energy to deflect her.

"So you," Akira started. "You killed my WHOLE family only to find me? But instead, you didn't kill the one you were after… YOU KILLED THEM ALL FOR NOTHING!"

En waved him off. "Oh who cares? You don't remember them anyway…"

Akira snapped. He used his telekinesis to hold her still. En struggled to move unsuccessfully. Akira approached her, not caring that he still had an audience. Everything was over anyway.

"You… killed my last family…. YOU'RE NOT TAKING AWAY THIS ONE TOO!" He sent a ki blast straight at her heart. En screamed and fell lifelessly to the ground. Akira ran over to Yoko's cell phone and found "HOME" in her recent calls. He pressed the button and made the hardest phone call of his life.

Akira had refused all medical attention already by the time Kurama and Hiei got there. Yusuke, Botan, and Genkai followed them.

Yusuke was the first to say anything. "Kid… you look like hell."

"I feel like hell."

Kurama noticed En lying dead on the ground and the crowd staring at her. He then looked at Akira. "You do this?"

Akira met his gaze for a moment, and then turned away to nod. "But, I couldn't stop Fiore like I said. And he's a psychic who can control the bodies of others… He- he has Yoko." He let his head drop.

Botan put a hand on each shoulder. "It's not the end Akira. That's Hiei and Kurama's daughter, they won't let it happen this way."

Hiei turned to the others. "I see where he went using the Jagan. If we go get Akira some bandages we can head there now."

Akira interrupted, "I want to go after Yoko too! I am NOT staying behind."

Hiei just looked at him. "I never said we would leave without you. You need bandages first." He paused for a moment, assessing Akira. "You really love my daughter, don't you?"

Akira blinked and blushed. He nodded. "Yes… with everything that I am. And I haven't told her yet, so I need to be there. I need to tell her."

Hiei nodded. "Then let's get a move on. To the temple right?"

Genkai nodded. Yusuke walked beside Akira and nudged him. "Everything is gonna be fine. We all love her we won't lose her. And I give you a lot of credit kid. Having the guts to say that to Hiei's face is awesome."

Akira smiled for a second. This was it… A battle was brewing.

(Scene Change)

Yoko woke up in a dark room. There was only one window that led to the Makai. She was dazed and confused. How did she get here? She shifted the satin sheets off of her body and froze. 'Why on earth am I in a bed?' Yoko practically leapt off of the mattress and realized she was now dressed in black attire as opposed to her school uniform. The dress was a black satin and designed like a female Chinese dress. It was sleeveless and ended right in the center of her thigh. Her legs were covered in something familiar at least; deep purple leggings that carried on down to her ankles. Her feet were clad in slip-on black ballet flats to match her attire. On each wrist she now wore a purple band and around her neck was a black choker. Yoko immediately felt violated.

"Don't worry, I didn't redress you. Another woman who serves me did." Fiore's voice echoed from the doorway.

Yoko instantly snapped her head in his direction, eyes burning with hate and rage. "You! Heh, why redress me at all?"

Fiore approached Yoko swiftly. "Well, I felt it would be more fitting than that goody-goody school uniform you were sporting my dear. To be completely honest, it makes you look younger than you are. This is much more suitable if you are to be with me."

"And if I don't WANT to be with you?"

A pause on Fiore's end made Yoko smirk.

"I don't care how powerful you are, I don't care how powerful you think you can make me. I will never side with you when you are out to use me and to hurt Akira." Yoko stated calmly, her words oozing with venom.

Fiore merely shook his head. "Yes the original plan was to use you as a weapon… But now I am truly attracted to you. You are forbidden, untouchable. And yet, the power that stays hidden deep within you is just so enticing that I must have you by my side."

Yoko looked on as he professed his attraction to her. She felt disgusted. "How flattering," she began, "to be considered suitable for someone as WONDERFUL as you who can somehow see past what I am and just focus on how I can attend to your needs."

"I believe I detect some sarcasm."

"Only some sarcasm? Then I wasn't clear."

"Yoko, Yoko, Yoko…What I am offering is for you to rule alongside me. It wouldn't matter what you are anymore. You would be QUEEN. No one would care about your mixed races any longer; they'd worship you and listen to you as they should." Fiore took Yoko's face in his hands, freezing her once more.

"You are truly… such a magnificent demon. You are nothing like any other…And your beauty is beyond compare. Join me Yoko, you'll be accepted if you do. Imagine, never being considered an abomination again. Only being loved and adored."

Yoko knew his words were practically hypnotic. But as he released her face she fought off his eloquent poetry and focused on the reality that was now and that she loved. Yoko shook her head. "No… I won't."

Fiore sighed. "There's not one thing that will change your mind, is there?"

"No," she replied. "Not one thing. No offer you can ever make to me will change my mind either."

The demon grasped Yoko's form, stopping her completely. "If you won't be mine willingly, I'll have to use other methods to convince you. Forgive me darling, it will all be over soon." He placed his palm in front of her forehead and Yoko felt a sharp pain.

Then…

Then blackness surrounded her as Yoko slipped away from her reality.

(Scene Change)

Back at Genkai's temple everyone was gearing up to find Fiore. Kurama was applying salve and tight bandages to Akira's wounds so he could join them. Akira just sat in silence. Hiei could be seen looking at his wrapped right arm outside the temple, considering using the dragon. Yusuke was punching things and practically throwing a temper tantrum as Genkai was forced to calm him down by method of hitting him with a rock.

"That should be enough to hold. It's not a deep cut so even if it reopens it is fixable later." Kurama said.

Akira pulled his shirt on and stood up wincing at the fire blazing on his back. "Then we should get going right?"

Hiei and Kurama both stood and nodded. Yusuke was walking over towards them to join the departing group when a ki blast from behind shot towards his back. Yusuke sensed it in time to move out of the way. He turned to face his attacker in a fury and stopped mouth slightly open in horror.

Hiei froze where he stood unable to breathe.

Kurama gasped and stared in disbelief.

Genkai was quietly repeating a mantra of "No…no…no…no…"

Akira knew this power. He knew this aura. He finally turned and saw their opponent standing on the limb of a tree.

Yoko Minnamino smirked maliciously at those she loved dearly.

A/N: OMG what did I do? I am so terrible! Even I'M UPSET AND I WROTE IT! (Cries) Wah…

Anyhow, the story is really heating up now. Please leave reviews! Reviews make me want to write!


End file.
